DATE: Wednesday, August 27, 1997            TAG: 9708270529

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B11  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: MANASSAS                          LENGTH:   28 lines

MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN ROBBERY-SLAYING AT I-95 REST STOP

One of three men charged with ambushing and killing a Pennsylvania man at a highway rest stop pleaded guilty Tuesday.

Khalif Rodriguez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery in the death of Bobby Lee Durham. Durham was killed Dec. 18 in the men's room of a rest stop on Interstate 95 near Dale City. He had already handed over his wallet.

Rodriguez said nothing during a one-hour hearing in Prince William Circuit Court, but last month he testified that he helped plan the robbery and kicked down a stall door to confront Durham. Testifying against co-defendant Andre Carter, Rodriguez said both robbers were carrying guns, but that only Carter fired.

Carter, 18, was convicted of first-degree murder and faces as much as two life terms in prison. Rodriguez, 19, will face life in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 20 in Prince William Circuit Court.

A third man, Michael Baggett, has testified that he waited in the car while Carter and Rodriguez followed Durham into the men's room. Baggett, 20, faces a trial this fall. KEYWORDS: GUILTY PLEA MURDER ROBBERY

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