2 Ohio men plead guilty in 2017 fatal shooting of woman

Two Ohio men have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2017 slaying of a southeastern Michigan woman who was fatally shot after being bound with holiday lights.

Shandon Ray Groom and Timothy Moore, both of Toledo, Ohio, had been set to stand trial this month in the killing of 27-year-old Egypt Covington. But Moore entered his guilty plea on Thursday after Groom pleaded guilty on July 14, The Detroit News reported.

Both are scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 5, according to Wayne County Circuit Court records.

A third man who was charged in Covington’s slaying, Shane Lamar Evans, 34, pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in May to 15-25 years in prison.

Michigan State Police said Thursday that the agency had been investigating a fourth possible suspect in Covington’s death but that individual was fatally shot in Toledo, Ohio.

Covington was found dead in June 2017 inside her home in Van Buren Township, about 28 miles (45 kilometers) southwest of Detroit. Her hands had been bound with holiday string lights and she had been shot in the head, authorities said.

Covington was an account manager for a beer distributor, as well as a musician and singer. In 2017, Arbor Brewing created a beer, A Girl Named Egypt, to honor Covington’s life.