16 Y/o Involved In Robbery In Ga. Shop Owner Pressing Charges. Please Advise.

Location: Liberty County, Georgia, USA. My genius 16 y/o son took part in a local robbery in which the other child reached behind the counter and snatched one single hemp vape. My child has come forward to us and the owner of the shop to admit involvement, apologize, and explain the situation he was put in. Owner is pressing charges and states they are asking for leniency for my child.

TLDR: How do we proceed? Cannot really afford a criminal defense attorney at the moment. Kid wants to take responsibility and tell LE everything. As parents, we want to help mitigate impact on future while ensuring he is held responsible. This is his first offense of any kind. I feel like the answer to my question is probably “take the court appointed attorney and follow their advice,” but have not ever dealt with criminal legal system to this extent.

Expanded Context: Not that I think it matters much legally, but my child claims he was told to come with ‘or else’ and wanted to make sure the other child did not get violent.

The owner of the shop has stated that they don’t want MY son to get in the same trouble as the other child because of context. I’m not naive enough to believe that there is any way for the owner to control what happens once in the hands of law enforcement, but I want to be sure we approach this correctly. My kid wants to spill all the beans, but the other child involved has been known to get violent and has access to firearms. Sorry for word vomit and mobile formatting.