Court ‘abused’ discretion, man claims, in fatal shooting of teen
An appeal is set DAYTON— to be heard in the case of a Kettering man convicted in the shooting death of a Fairmont High School student in 2016, when both were 16.
The attorney for Kylen Gregory, now 20, said the Montgomery County Juvenile Court abused its discretionwhen it ruled the defendant was not amendable for rehabilitation in that system for the death ofRonnie Bowers, court records say.
Prosecutors, however, said juvenile court JudgeAnthony Capizzi’s ruling was “based upon the totality of the evidence presented and after careful consideration of all factors,” according to documents. A three-judge panel in the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Dayton is scheduled to hear oral arguments remotely Tuesday, the court docket states.
Gregory’s case was transferred fromjuvenile court to adult court, where he was indicted on murder and related charges for the Sept. 4, 2016, shooting of Bowers, who died two days later.
Gregory testified he did not know Bowers, whom
authorities called “an innocent bystander.” Neither of the t wo were ini - tially involved in the dispute that started at AlterFest and endedonWillowdaleAvenue, according tocourt witnesses.
Gregory was sentenced to 11 years in prison, minus time servedafter being found guilty by a Montgomery CountyCommonPleasCourt
jury on lesser charges after admitting to firing the shot authorities said killed Bowers. Gregory later pleaded guilty to additional lesser offenses in the case.
Because he was not convicted of murder, the case went back tojuvenile court to assesswhether the defendant was a candidate for rehabilitation in that system.
The juvenile court ruled last year thathewas not. Had the case stayed in the juvenile system, Gregory would have been freed on this 21st birthday, court officials said.
The “juvenile court’smisapplication of guideline factors has led to an unreliable assessment” of Gregory’s amenability “to rehabilitation in the juvenile system,” defense attorney Ben Swift wrote in an appeals court filing.
The juvenile court’s “decision-making was arbitrary in the sense that the court ignored many favorable aspects” of defendant’s rehab progress “while highlighting other that were less significant. Thus, the court abused its discretion in thismatter.”
Yet, prosecutors stated in appeals court filings that the juvenile court’s decisionwas “based upon the totality of the evidence presented and after careful consideration of all factors.”
“The juvenile court properly found” the case should stay in adult court, noting that“isnotanabuseofdiscretion andmust stand,” court records show.
The case is being heard by judgesMaryDonovan, Jeffrey FroelichandJeffreyWelbaum, according to court records.