A 16-year-old boy was charged with killing a World War II veteran for cheating him and another friend on a sale of crack cocaine.

The veteran was beaten to death, but his friends say the allegations were "smearing his name". Delbert Belton, 88, was known as "Shorty" because he was about five feet tall. His friend Ted Denison said, "Shorty never did no drugs."

The teen, Kenan Adams-Kinard, was arrested early Monday in Spokane, Wash. His bail was set at $3 million.

Police say the drug-dealing allegations were found in a letter when they arrested the boy, Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Larry Haskell.

The letter alleges that Adams-Kinard and Demetrius L. Glenn, both 16, were buying crack cocaine from Belton when the deal went sour. Family members and friends say that Belton didn't deal drugs.

Both boys had previous records. They are charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in the beating, which occurred Aug 21.

The charges carry a potential life sentence; the boys will be tried as adults. Both of the 16-year-olds have criminal records.

Spokane County District Judge Debra Hayes ordered Adams-Kinard moved from a juvenile jail to the Spokane County Jail.

Belton was beten in the parking lot of an Eagles Lodge in north Spokane. His wallet was taken and he was found by police with grave injuries, then died in the hospital.

Belton was wounded in the Battle of Okinawa, then worked for Kaiser Aluminum for 33 years and retired in 1982.

In 2011, Glenn was convicted of assault, riot, and obstruction after he and friends surrounded and confronted another teenager in a park because they saw a black bandana on the ground. They took this as a disrespectful act, and Glenn attacked him with a bat studded with nails.

He was also charged with malicious mischief for damaging a garage door and for driving without a license in two incidents earlier this year.