FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The teenager accused of killing a 16-year-old high school football player in Deerfield Beach back in 2022 has agreed to take a plea deal just as his trial was set to begin.

Keantae Vaughn said he would plead guilty to a charge of premeditated first-degree murder shortly before the first pool of jurors was set to enter the courtroom.

He will serve a sentence of 25 years.

A grand jury indicted Vaughn as an adult when he was 14 years old after police said he shot and killed Rickey Ferguson Jr. in 2022.

Ferguson was shot in the head and rushed to the hospital, where he died several days later.

Vaughn’s sentence will be formally handed down on Monday morning if and when he accepts the plea, after which Ferguson’s family is expected to speak.

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