Suspect in WWII vet’s slaying expected to take plea bargain

A plea bargain is in the works for at least one of the teenagers suspected in the 2013 beating death of World War II veteran Delbert “Shorty” Belton. The teen, Kenan Adams-Kinard, is expected to plead guilty to a murder charge in connection with the 88-year-old veteran’s death in exchange for an accompanying robbery charge being dismissed, court officials said today. A hearing is set for Tuesday in front of Judge Sam Cozza. Adams-Kinard and Demetruis Glenn, both now 17, are charged as adults in connection with the slaying, which drew international attention, but the cases are being handled in the county’s juvenile court. Belton was found severely beaten in the parking lot of a Spokane ice rink the evening of Aug. 21, 2013, where he’d been waiting for friends. Kinard’s trial was scheduled to start next week. The status of Glenn’s case was unclear this afternoon. Investigators discovered both boys’ fingerprints on Belton’s car. Adams-Kinard and Glenn have been in custody since their separate arrests a few days after the homicide. Glenn turned himself in to authorities after surveillance video surfaced of the two teens entering nearby businesses around the time of the alleged beating. Adams-Kinard was apprehended in a basement apartment a few days later, where authorities found a letter they tied to the teen that alleged the beating took place after the elderly World War II veteran stiffed Adams-Kinard on a crack cocaine deal. Friends and family of Belton have called the drug claims preposterous.