Edsel Johnson pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the Stateline Speedway shooting of Bradley Rex.

Thursday's pleas are admissions on lesser counts. They are not a sentence, and the judge has not agreed to keep them. Edsel Johnson pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting of Bradley Rex, down from first-degree murder, under a Rule 11 deal that would cap prison at 15 years and make him eligible for parole after four. Judge Regina McCrea said she will decide whether to accept that deal only after a presentence investigation. If she rejects it, he can withdraw the pleas. January is the date that choice gets made.

The Coeur d'Alene Press reported that Edsel R. Johnson pleaded guilty Thursday morning, Oct. 15, 2026, to voluntary manslaughter in the May 9 shooting of Bradley Rex near Stateline Speedway. He also pleaded guilty to reckless driving and battery. Voluntary manslaughter carries up to 15 years. Each misdemeanor carries up to six months. Prosecutors had charged first-degree murder, which the Press reported can carry life or death. The Spokesman-Review, in its May account of the charging documents, identified the man who was killed as Bradley Allen Rex and reported Johnson was 32 when he was charged. First District Judge Regina McCrea set sentencing for Jan. 19 and said she will not decide the proposed plea agreement until a presentence investigation is finished.

The Press reported prosecutors told the court Johnson was delivering a DoorDash order on May 9 when he met vehicle and foot traffic on North Beck Road. Thousands of people were in the area for the Lantern Festival at the speedway. Prosecutors said he grew impatient, drove a van through pedestrians, and that Rex stayed in the road and swung a lawn chair into a rear window as the van passed. They said Johnson got out, threw Rex to the ground, and shot him in the chest after Rex got up and grabbed the driver's door. The Press reported that the shooting itself was not in dispute. The defense has argued the killing was lawful under Idaho law because Rex was trying to enter an occupied vehicle by force. That is a justification theory. Thursday's pleas are to voluntary manslaughter and the two misdemeanors, which is a different legal result from either a murder conviction or a finding that the shot was justified.

The proposed resolution is a Rule 11 agreement. The Press reported that in Idaho a judge may accept or reject that kind of deal and may not rewrite it. In exchange for the pleas, prosecutors agreed to recommend 15 years with parole eligibility after four years and to dismiss a sentencing enhancement. Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Stan Mortensen told the court a plea agreement is a compromise and that both sides were giving up trial risk for a result they could count on. If Judge McCrea rejects the agreement, Johnson can withdraw the guilty pleas. Rex's family did not treat the recommendation as enough. Diego Madrid, whose mother was engaged to Rex, told the Press that a 15-year maximum was too little and that ending the case without a trial made it worse. Family friend Anne Kannegaard told the Press the possible penalty looked small against a life that is gone.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Johnson's guilty pleas are admissions in open court. Judge McCrea has not accepted the Rule 11 agreement, no sentence has been imposed, and he can withdraw the pleas if she rejects the deal.