Detroit man pleads guilty to killing wife

Erin Justice admits to killing in wife Alicia Fox's 2014 murder case; children remain missing

DETROIT – After rejecting a plea deal Friday morning, a Detroit man who is charged in his wife's 2014 murder changed his mind hours later and pleaded guilty to murder.

Erin Justice initially told a judge Friday he wanted a trial on a premeditated murder charge instead of pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

"We'll go to trial then," Justice said around 8:30 a.m. during a special pretrial conference.

At 10:20 a.m., Justice returned to court and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a sentence agreement of 45 to 80 years imprisonment, plus an additional two years for a felony firearm charge.

Judge Lawrence Talon is scheduled sentence Justice on September 22, 2015 at 9:00 a.m.

Alicia Fox's body was found in June 2014 in a vacant house. Her two children, 6-year-old daughter Kaylah Hunter and 8-month-old Kristian Justice, have been missing since their mother's death.

The woman's relatives think Justice, who is Kristian's father, knows where the children are, although he hasn't been charged in their disappearance.

Another man, Tim Jones, charged as an accessory in the case, testified against Justice and said he got rid of evidence. Jones said the children were alive when he last saw them.

The case has been delayed for months while Justice's mental health was being evaluated. He was found competent to face charges.