Accused teen shooter seeks plea reversal
A change of attorneys has delayed a hearing set for today for a teen seeking to withdraw his guilty pleas just before a murder sentencing in the shooting of a Miami Twp. hotel worker.
The court-appointment of a new lawyer for Larry Malcolm Sain, 18, followed Patrick Mulligan withdrawing last week after Sain abruptly told a judge he wanted to rescind his guilty pleas and fire Mulligan.
Sain’s announcement came moments before Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara Gorman was set to sentence him for the Sept. 13, 2018, shooting death of Jayren Graham, 18, of Miami Twp.
Sain was 17 at the time of the shooting and is being tried as an adult. He told Gorman he felt pressured into a plea deal with prosecutors and indicated his mother was an influence in the guilty pleas.
Sain’s new lawyer, Lucas Wilder, has judicial conflicts with today’s hearing date, and the case has been rescheduled for Sept. 25, according to Gorman’s office.
The plea deal had been announced last month, just days before Sain’s trial was set to start. It was agreed Sain would be sentenced to 18 years to life in prison if he pleaded guilty to murder and tampering with evidence, court officials said.
Sain had earlier pleaded not guilty to four murder counts, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of felonious assault, tampering with evidence, carrying a concealed weapon and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.
Authorities say Sain killed Graham outside the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton off Ohio 741 by the Dayton Mall in a late-night drug deal gone bad.
His case was transferred to adult court earlier this year after a hearing in Montgomery County Juvenile Court Judge Anthony Capizzi’s courtroom.