MADISON (WKOW) - A teenager Tuesday entered guilty pleas to felony murder in the March 2020 killings of Madison physician Beth Potter and her husband Robin Carre, admitting he helped kidnap the couple at gun point prior to their deaths.
As part of the plea agreement between Ali'jah Larrue, 19, and prosecutors, Larruewill testify at an October trial for the alleged gunman in the fatal shootings, teenager Khari Sanford.
Prosecutors and Larrue's attorney, Michael Covey say there's been no agreement on what sentence to recommend for Larrue. For each of two counts of being a party to a kidnapping that led to felony murder, the maximum sentence is 55 years.
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Covey says Larrue was unaware of any plans to kill Potter and Carre when he helped Sanford take the couple from their Madison home and drive them to the UW Arboretum, where a passerby later found Carre's body and Potter critically injured.
"Khari Sanford set this up," Covey says. "Ali'jah went along with it, not fully comprehending what was going to happen and not comprehending the consequences until frankly it was too late."
Larrue told the judge Tuesday he understood the implications of his pleas and was not offered anything beyond the felony murder charges to plead guilty. Like Sanford, Larrue had been charged with two counts of being a party to first-degree intentional homicide.
Authorities say Sanford and his girlfriend - the daughter of the victims - had been evicted from the home of the victims shortly before the homicides in part because they failed to follow practices to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. The victims provided Sanford and their daughter with an apartment and a van.
Covey says Larrue is remorseful over his role.
"He feels horrible about this," Covey says. "If he could take back this day, in an instant, not just because he got in trouble for it but because two people passed away."
The charge of felony murder involves a death resulting from another crime.
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