One of three US teenagers charged over the 2013 death of Australian baseballer Chris Lane has pleaded guilty.

The murder trial of the three teens is not due until next month, but Michael Jones decided today to enter a guilty plea to second-degree murder.

Jones was the driver of the car from which a bullet was fired at the back of the Australian as he was jogging down a road in Duncan, Oklahoma. The gun has never been recovered.

Jones begged for forgiveness as he was sentenced to life in prison.

District Attorney Janson Hicks said Jones made a short statement to the family of Lane's girlfriend Sarah Harper "for his actions".

Jones will not be able to apply for parole until after 38 years at which point he will be 56.

The other teens will face court next month, charged with first-degree murder and accessory in the first.

A defence motion to have the trial moved to another county because of concerns about bias is yet to be ruled on.

Melbourne resident Lane was a student at East Central University in Ada and had been jogging in the small town when he was shot.

He was on a baseball scholarship at the university and was two weeks away from celebrating his 23rd birthday.

Prosecutors said the teenagers decided to kill someone "for the fun of it", but their lawyers denied that accusation.

The teens were 17 and 16 at the time of Lane's death.

People who commit capital crimes before age 18 cannot be sentenced to death in the United States.