Teen pleads guilty in `Candyman' killing

Friday, March 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WAGONER, Okla. (AP) -- A teen-ager has pleaded guilty in connection with the July robbery and shooting death of a Wagoner man, and a prosecutor says another teen is scheduled to do the same.

Deon Smith, 18, entered a plea agreement with prosecutors on charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and as an accessory to murder, Wagoner County Assistant District Attorney Gary Huggins said.

Smith will receive a 10-year sentence in prison and a 10-yearsuspended sentence to be served concurrently, Huggins said.

The prosecutor said 18-year-old Joseph Wright is expected to enter a guilty plea next week for his role in the killing of Leonard Hill on July 23.

If an upcoming evaluation shows he is mentally competent to enter the guilty plea, Wright will plead to the same charges as Smith but receive a 30-year prison sentence for the accessory charge, Huggins said.

A third co-defendant, 18-year-old Byron Burton, pleaded guilty two weeks ago to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Smith and Wright had each been charged with first-degree murder before making the plea agreements.

Hill, 60, was known as the "Candyman" to many local residents because he sold snacks and sodas out of his house to neighborhood children and adults.