Man pleads guilty in death of former Ole Miss student from Missouri

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) –  A 24-year-old man accused of capital murder in the 2019 death of a college student he occasionally dated has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that took the death penalty off the table.

Brandon Theesfeld, of Fort Worth, Texas, entered the plea Friday to first-degree murder before Lafayette County

Circuit Judge Kelly Luther. Defense attorney Tony Farese says the lesser plea included a conditional release provision that could allow his client to be released at age 65.

Theesfeld was arrested in 2019 for the slaying of 21-year-old Ally Kostial of St. Louis.

The district attorney’s office revealed during a hearing Kostial was likely pregnant by Theesfeld, and he was against her having the baby. Upset by the situation, they say he got a gun and killed her.