Teen takes plea in murder case on day trial was set to begin

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Cir Allen Glover is pictured Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Douglas County District Court.

Updated at 1:48 p.m. Monday, July 7, 2025

A teen who was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of another Lawrence teen took a plea deal on Monday, the day his trial was set to begin.

The defendant, Cir Allen Keith Glover, 19, entered a plea to 2nd-degree reckless murder in the death of Isaiah Neal, 17. Part of the plea included an agreement to serve 120 months, or 10 years, in prison, which would be a downward departure in sentencing that must be approved by a judge.

Neal was gunned down outside his family’s Alabama Street apartment on June 13, 2024, as the Journal-World reported.

Douglas County Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal represented the state along with Senior Assistant DA Eve Kemple. Glover was represented by appointed defense attorney Michael Clarke.

At Glover’s preliminary hearing last fall, the state said that evidence at trial would show that Neal was shot in the back seven times with his own gun after Glover paid a late-night visit to the family’s apartment. The two teens had reportedly been longtime friends prior to that evening.

Glover was originally charged with second-degree murder, but after the preliminary hearing Judge Stacey Donovan ruled that probable cause existed for a first-degree charge. Glover has been in custody on a $1 million bond since his arrest last June.

The Journal-World reached out Monday morning to Douglas County District Attorney Dakota Loomis for comment on the plea but had not heard back by Monday evening.