Man pleads guilty in death of former Ole Miss student

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. Authorities have said that both were students at the University of Mississippi and had dated occasionally.