Would you cop a plea if you were sure you didn't do anything wrong? That would be pretty stupid!
He killed a kid. An unarmed kid. Outside the kid's father's home.
Most places, that's considered wrong.
and, yeah, people cop pleas all the time because the evidence damns them and a jury would do far worse.
In self defense....as far as we know.
If i knew i did something like this because i was afraid the kid was trying to kill me...i would have done the same thing! You, and I, don't know the whole story, and we may never REALLY know., But if the prosecution doesn't have the proof they need, he could very well walk away. So far everything looks to be in his favor...so he'd be an idiot to plea anything!