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HAMILTON — The second teenager accused in the slaying of a man at a West Chester Twp. motel in November has pleaded guilty to charges.

Michael Douglass, 18, formerly of Middletown, entered into a plea agreement Thursday, May 15, before Butler County Common Pleas Judge Craig Hedric. Douglass pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, kidnapping, theft, tampering with evidence and breaking and entering.

The plea came two weeks after a jury found co-defendant Amber Rodriguez guilty of aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated burglary and aggravated murder in the same killing of Sabyasachi Debnath. The 16-year-old girl was tried as an adult. She now faces a possibility of life in prison without parole and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 12.

As part of the Douglass' plea agreement, the six lesser charges will run concurrent to the murder charge, according to Assistant Prosecutor Glenn Rossi.

But there is no agreement on the sentence for aggravated murder so Douglass could receive life in prison without the possibility of parole. Hedric will sentence Douglass at 8:30 a.m. June 11 after a pre-sentence investigation is completed.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday, May 19, in Douglass' trial.

Douglass' family members were in the courtroom during the plea agreement. Some wiped away tears. Shukla Debnath, wife of the victim, was also present, but had no comment after the short hearing. The Debnaths are originally from Bangladesh.

The convictions of the two teenagers stemmed from the Nov. 12 stabbing death of Debnath at the Tri-County Inn. Roger Whitten, 18, of Hamilton, the last of the trio accused in the homicide, is scheduled to stand trial in August on the same charges. Whitten and Rodriguez are siblings.

Police say the trio met Debnath at the Princeton-Glendale Road motel, and then beat, bound and fatally stabbed him.

After leaving West Chester Twp., the three used the victim's credit cards and cell phones as they went from store to store, making purchases and withdrawing cash, authorities said. They were later apprehended at The Hamilton Hotel on Dixie Highway in Hamilton.

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