Two men charged with hate crimes in the shooting deaths of three people in Tulsa last year have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Alvin Watts and Jake England changed their previous not guilty pleas on Monday in Tulsa County District Court as part of a plea deal in which prosecutors dropped the death penalty against them.
Watts and England were charged with first-degree murder in the Easter weekend 2012 shootings of William Allen, Bobby Clark and Dannaer Fields who were killed as they walked near their homes. Two others were shot and wounded.
All five victims are black. Watts is white and England has said he's Cherokee Indian.
Both men also pleaded guilty to shooting with intent to kill and to hate crime charges.