A 22-year-old man is facing a sentence of 15 years to life in prison after pleading guilty Friday to second degree murder in the beating death of a University of Southern California student, reports KABC.
Sentencing for Jonathan Del Carmen is scheduled for November 3 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Xinran Ji stumbled to his home and died July 24, 2014 after being beaten with a baseball bat.
NBC LA reports as a result of the guilty plea, the prosecution agreed to drop a special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of an attempted robbery.
Ji was one of three Chinese international students killed at USC between 2012 and 2014. The murder reverberated all the way to China where 3,000 out of the university’s 8,000 international students originate.
USC announced new security measures after Ji’s murder to ease some of the fears from parents in China.
RELATED: New Security Measures at USC After Murder of Chinese Grad Student
Ji’s plea Friday happened just two days after Andrew Garcia, 21, received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“We lost the sunshine from our life,” said Ji’s father, Songbo Ji, the victim’s father said on Wednesday during Garcia’s sentencing. “He was our only child. People our age are now planning weddings for sons and daughters. But every day for us, we are paying tribute to our son. We are completely heartbroken.”
Alejandra Guerrero, 19, also faces life in prison without the possibility of parole following his conviction of first degree murder with special circumstances.
A fourth suspect, Alberto Ochoa, 20, is still awaiting trial.
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