A Fayette man is charged with first-degree murder after authorities say he admitted to shooting and killing another man Monday in Fayette.

Alfredo Demario Hicks, 21, was arrested Tuesday evening and is being held in the Howard County Jail without bond. Howard County Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Reikhof charged him with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Hicks has no previous felony charges or convictions in Missouri, according to online case records.

John Lamar Turner, 29, of Poplar Bluff, was shot and killed Monday afternoon while sitting in a car on South Linn Street in Fayette, according to a news release from the Fayette Police Department.

Fayette Police Chief Jeff Oswald saw someone running from the scene when he arrived shortly after he was called at 1:40 p.m., but lost sight of him and went to check on Turner, who had already died of a gunshot to the head, Oswald wrote in a probable cause statement.

Oswald asked Sprint to check Turner’s phone history, and found that he had been texting with the same number from 7:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., the time a witness said they heard the gunshot, Oswald wrote.

Boone County Detective Andrew Evans identified the number as Hicks’, Oswald wrote.

Law enforcement “pinged” Hicks’ phone number, which showed him at 301 and 207 South Park Ave. in Fayette. Officers knocked on the doors at 301 and 208 South Park Ave., and nobody answered at 208, Oswald wrote. When the residents came home, one of them went into the home and came back out with Hicks, Oswald wrote. The resident then gave officers permission to search the home, where they found a cellphone, he wrote.

After investigators read Hicks his rights, he told them that he had been meeting Turner to buy marijuana, according to Oswald. Hicks said he shot Turner in the head with a .380 caliber handgun, Oswald wrote.

Hicks allowed law enforcement to search his phone, where investigators found he had searched on Google the day before to learn if law enforcement could trace .380 ammo and whether it was better to shoot a .380 pistol from close range or far away, Oswald wrote.

First-degree murder is punishable by death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.