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Teen pleads guilty in homeless man's beating death

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Sep 25, 2012 at 5:57 am

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Richfield teenager has pleaded guilty in the beating death of a homeless man this summer.

The Hennepin County Attorney's office says Andre Steward Jr. pleaded guilty in adult court Monday to second-degree unintentional murder. Steward is expected to be sentenced to 121/2 years in prison on Oct. 15.

In court, Steward admitted that he and another man were looking to rob someone on June 29 when they saw 50-year-old Harry Lee Brown walking.

Steward says he punched Brown in the face, knocking him to the ground. The teen says he and 23-year-old Willis Esposito Richardson of Minneapolis took money from Brown's pockets and used it to buy liquor.

Brown was taken to a hospital and put on life support before dying July 8.

Richardson has a hearing Oct. 11.