By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A 17-year-old St. Joseph man has pleaded guilty in the shooting death of a teenager near the St. Joseph REC Center nearly one year ago.
Kaden Wilfong pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Buchanan County Circuit Court, admitting involvement in the shooting death of 15-year-old Carter Smith at the intersection of 18th and Commercial Streets during a robbery.
St. Joseph police officers responded to a shots fired call the morning of June 15, 2023. Carter’s body was found in the southbound lane of 28th, dead from a gunshot wound. Video footage led officers to execute a search warrant at Wilfong’s residence, where they found the gun used in the shooting, bloody clothing, and the victim’s bloody duffel bag.
Wilfong is scheduled to be sentenced in July.
The cases of two other defendants, 19-year-old Jackson Griffith of Country Club and 18-year-old Teontre Kirby of St. Joseph, are working their way through the court system. Kirby has a Friday court date. Griffith is scheduled for a trial setting in early June.
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