Australian Student Shot Dead: Teens Charged

Three Oklahoma teenagers have been charged in the shooting death of an Australian college baseball player.

Christopher Lane, 22, of Melbourne, died on Friday after being shot in the back as he jogged along a tree-lined road in Duncan, Oklahoma.

Two teenagers, James Francis Edwards Jr aged 15 and Chancey Allen Luna who is16, were charged with first-degree murder and ordered held without bond.

Michael Dewayne Jones, aged 17, was charged with being an accessory after the fact and with driving a vehicle while a weapon was discharged.

In open court on Tuesday, Jones said: "I pulled the trigger."

But the judge directed him to remain quiet and said Tuesday's proceeding was not the day to discuss the facts of the case.

The 17-year-old's bond was set at $1m.

Police Chief Dan Ford said in several interviews that the oldest boy had told officers that he and his friends were bored and killed Mr Lane for "the fun of it" .

Meanwhile, family and friends on two continents mourned Mr Lane, who gave up pursuit of an Australian football career to pursue his passion for baseball.

His girlfriend tearfully laid a cross at a streetside memorial in Duncan, while half a world away, an impromptu memorial grew at the home plate he protected as a catcher on his youth team.

"We just thought we'd leave it," Sarah Harper said as she visited the memorial. "This is his final spot."