BRIGHTON – A 16-year-old Colorado boy has pleaded guilty to murdering a 10-year-old girl and faces a life sentence.

Aidan Zellmer appeared Friday in Adams County District Court.

Prosecutors in 2017 charged Zellmer with first-degree murder and first-degree murder of a child in the death of Kiaya Campbell.

The Denver Post reports that prosecutors agreed to drop the second charge as part of Zellmer’s plea agreement.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 11. Zellmer faces life in prison with a chance of parole.

Police have said Campbell and Zellmer were walking together to go shopping when she disappeared on June 7, 2017, in Thornton. Her body was found the next day.

Police said Zellmer told investigators that he got separated from Campbell when it began raining hard.