An Atlanta man accused of fatally shooting a teen during a 2009 robbery is expected to plead guilty Friday, court officials said.
Melvin Bardwell, 25, will enter a guilty plea to charges of voluntary manslaughter, armed robbery, aggravated assault and weapons charges for the shooting death of 16-year-old Adair Freeman, court officials said.
Freeman was held up on Jan. 24, 2009 in the Shell gas station parking lot near Spring and 14th streets in Midtown Atlanta, authorities said.
He had left a nearby recording studio where he was working to get snacks, when he encountered an armed Bardwell, according to court officials.
At gunpoint, Bardwell demanded Freeman's "stuff," and fired several shots when the teen refused.
One of the bullets hit the victim in the back, and another struck Bardwell in the leg.
Bardwell fled, leaving Freeman to die, checking into a hospital under an assumed name for his own injury.
When police later arrested him, he told them he'd been robbed and shot by the same individuals who shot Freeman.
Bardwell will go before a Fulton County Superior Court judge Friday.
