A 72-year-old man on trial for murder pleaded guilty Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court, admitting to fatally shooting his roommate in December.

Charles Raymond Thomas entered the plea agreement with amended charges of first-degree manslaughter intentionally causing a death in the heat of passion. He was initially charged with second-degree intentional murder in the killing of Willie James Hobbs, 57, in their north Minneapolis residence on the 3100 block of Dupont Avenue N.

With the plea deal, Thomas agreed to serve a prison sentence of anywhere between 7 to 9 years. District Judge William Koch will announce his sentencing decision Oct. 3.

Defense attorney Hersch Izek said that Thomas should have been charged with manslaughter from the get-go, but it wasn't until trial that prosecutors were willing to offer the deal to a lesser charge.

"We see it all the time, cases being overcharged," Izek said in a phone interview Wednesday . "It's forcing somebody to give up their trial rights in order to accept a plea and lesser time. It's almost a threat."

In a statement, Hennepin County Attorney's office spokesperson Nicholas Kimball called Hobbs' killing "A tragic situation from the beginning, with a dispute between former friends that went way too far, turned violent, and ended tragically due to Mr. Thomas' actions.

"The evidence that Mr Thomas shot an unarmed victim four times, without a viable self-defense claim, supported the original charge but we believe this outcome holds the defendant appropriately accountable for his conduct," Kimball said.

Izek said his client is elderly, in poor health and has no criminal history. Leading up to the day of the incident, the roommates were in conflict and he said that Hobbs was demanding money and alcohol and allegedly pushed Thomas down the stairs the day of the killing.

"My client had been provoked over a period of six years when they lived together as roommates, coming to a head the day of the incident. That's a manslaughter case, acting in the heat of passion, and the prosecutors knew that."

According to the criminal complaint:

Police responded to the report of a shooting and the 911 caller said Thomas was calling family members to say that he shot Hobbs, but Thomas did not call 911. His son told police that when his father called, Thomas told him, "Son, I made a mistake. Hurry up now."

When his son arrived, Thomas said he didn't know what happened and "I just snapped."

Another witness told police that she was at the home earlier in the evening after Thomas called her and she heard the roommates arguing. Thomas tried calling her again and left a message asking for help. She went back inside the house and heard Thomas shoot Hobbs four times and saw Thomas holding the gun.

When police arrived, Thomas was outside with relatives and told police that he was the shooter and the gun was upstairs. He also told police that Hobbs was his friend who lived with him for a while, but he said that Hobbs was harassing and bullying him.

"Nobody feels worse than I do about this. I didn't plan for this," he allegedly told police.

Hobbs was found face down at the top of the staircase with four gunshot wounds. Police found the 9mm gun upstairs that matched the discharged casings near his body.