The ex-boyfriend of a woman who was fatally stabbed inside an upstate New York mall pleaded guilty Tuesday to her murder.

Prosecutors said Keith Sparks killed Mallicia Tipps inside the Sears store at the McKinley Mall in suburban Buffalo in September 2019.

Sparks was arrested later that night at his Niagara Falls home.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, the highest charge he faced, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said at a news conference.

Police said at the time of Sparks’ arrest that he followed Tipps’ vehicle to the mall and chased Tipps and her friend from the parking lot into the store, where he stabbed her several times. The 38-year-old victim died at the scene.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 19.