Former Michigan State Spartans star basketball player Keith Appling has pled guilty to second-degree murder and a firearm charge. The case involves the killing of 66-year-old Clyde Edmonds who was shot and killed in 2021. He pled guilty to the charges the day the trial was set to begin. With his plea agreement, he faces between 18 and 40 years in prison with the murder charge and two years served consecutively for the weapons charge. His other charges including first-degree murder will be dismissed at his hearing which is currently set for March Third.
Former Michigan State basketball star Keith Appling pleads guilty to murder of relative https://t.co/DQKyPo2zOg
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) February 13, 2023
Keith Appling played with the Michigan State Spartans from 2010 to 2014 and then played professional basketball mostly overseas. He did have two separate deals with the Orlando Magic, but never really broke into the ranks of the NBA after playing college basketball. Appling was arrested and charged in the summer of 2021. Investigators say he and Edmonds got into an argument over a handgun before Edmonds was shot. He was pronounced dead later at the hospital. Appling’s mother and Edmonds’ wife are first cousins.
Connected to the case, Keith Appling’s girlfriend reportedly drove him away from the scene. She pled guilty to one count of lying to the police and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. Appling will be formally sentenced in March and faces years in prison.
