Who is Keith Appling and why is he in the news?
Former Michigan State basketball player Keith Appling was sentenced to 18-to-40 years in prison for second-degree murder. Appling will also serve two consecutive years for a felony firearm charge, all in connection with the 2021 shooting of Clyde Edmonds.
Appling pleaded guilty last month in connection with the fatal shooting of a 66-year-old man in Detroit. A trial was scheduled to begin in February, but Appling pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and one felony firearm violation. His sentence became official Friday (March 3).
Appling, 31, was charged in June 2021 for shooting Edmonds, 66 in Detroit. According to the Detroit Free Press, Edmonds’ wife is Appling’s mother’s first cousin. Appling’s girlfriend Natalie Bannister was initially charged as an accessory to the shooting and for lying to officers. She pleaded guilty to the lying charge in July 2022, with the accessory charge dismissed. She received 1.5 yards of probation.
“What an extremely sad turn of events for a man that once had a promising future. This was a senseless crime, and the fact remains that his victim will never know another day of life,” Prosecutor Kym Worthy said.
Where did Keith Appling play in his career?
Before he got entangled in the undesirable world of a criminal investigation, Appling was quite a promising player when he was starting out in his career.
A promising point guard back in his prime, Appling signed with Michigan State in 2010 as the state’s Mr. Basketball out of Detroit (Mich.) Pershing. Appling played four years for the Spartans, starting 124 of the 142 games he played in and averaging 10.6 points and 3.3 assists per game for his career. He went undrafted in 2014 and bounced around the NBA D-League, logging five career games with the Orlando Magic in 2015.
It has to be noted that this is not Appling’s first brush with the law, as in 2018, Appling was sentenced to 18 months of probation after officers found about 20 grams of heroin in a vehicle he was driving – while he was also arrested in 2017 for carrying a concealed weapon.
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