TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The fifth of five defendants charged with killing three people in Topeka has pleaded guilty to two charges related to the case. Twenty-two-year-old Shane Andrew Mays pleaded Thursday to attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery.
Prosecutors said the three victims were killed in March 2017 after an unproven rape allegation against 19-year-old Matthew Leavitt.
Prosecutors say Mays was given a chance to survive if he helped to kill Leavitt, his best friend. He put a bag over Leavitt's head and held him down until another man killed Leavitt. Mays walked to the police station and reported the deaths.