15-year-old pleads guilty to killing 12-year-old friend he set on fire

TATE COUNTY, Miss. (TCD) -- A 15-year-old pleaded guilty last week to killing his 12-year-old friend by intentionally starting a fire inside a shed while they were playing together.

WMC-TV reports Michael Campbell entered the plea for second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2021 death of Gaines Coker. Campbell will also have 20 years of post-release supervision. Campbell was initially charged with capital murder in connection with Coker's death, and prosecutors charged him as an adult.

According to WREG-TV, Campbell and Coker were in playing in a shed on Arkabutla Dam Road in June 2021 when it caught on fire. Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance told WREG Coker suffered "significant burns" in the blaze. The 12-year-old was transported to a hospital in Memphis and then flown to a burn unit in Little Rock, where he died.

Gaines' father John Coker told Delta News Campbell "poured fuel over my son as he was either sitting or standing and lit him on fire."

John Coker added, "That's the bit I can't explain. I can explain the how. I can't explain the why."

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