Teen accomplice gets 16 years in Spokane murder of World War Two vet

[March 20, 2015]  SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Washington state teenager was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Thursday for his role in the murder of an 88-year-old World War Two veteran who was beaten to death during a robbery outside a Spokane fraternal lodge, his lawyer said.

Demetruis Glenn, 17, received the sentence in Spokane County Superior Court, his lawyer Christian Phelps said.

Glenn and Kenan Adams-Kinard, also 17, were accused of assaulting Delbert "Shorty" Belton as he sat in his vehicle in the August 2013 incident.

Belton, who had survived a gunshot wound to the leg during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, died a day after the beating. His wallet was also stolen, police said.

Adams-Kinard and Glenn, both 16 when the crime occurred, had pleaded not guilty to murder after their arrest. Adams-Kinard was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Feb. 5 after changing his plea to guilty in January.

Glenn pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on March 2 in Spokane County Superior Court following a plea deal offered by prosecutors a day earlier, Phelps said.

"The evidence indicated that (Adams-Kinard) was the primary actor in the case," Phelps said, adding that Glenn turned himself in to police. "There is no evidence that implicates (Glenn) in the beating of Mr. Belton."

On Thursday, Glenn was also ordered to pay about $6,000 in fines and restitution. The sentence was below the standard range for murder in Washington state, Phelps said.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Eric Walsh)

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