Campus Habitat suspect to face trial
Man in April homicide case bound over to circuit court
The man alleged to have pulled the trigger in what is now framed as a robbery gone wrong in April is headed to trial.
Miykael Norfleat, 20, of Chicago, will face 11 separate charges inthe shooting death of Raven Edelen, who went by Ray Nori, after being bound over by Circuit Court Judge Sara Spencer-noggle Tuesday afternoon. Themurder happened shortly before 6p.m. ina Campus Habitat apartment in the 500 block of Edgewood Drive.
Originally, Norfleat was charged with open murder, first- degree home invasion, felony firearm and carrying a concealed weapon. At Tuesday’s hearing, Isabella County Prosecutor Dave Barberi tacked on another seven: conspiracy to commit armed robbery, assault with intent to rob while armed, two counts of felonious assault and three more counts of felony firearm.
The shooting was part of what Barberi alleges
was a conspiracy to rob Edelen of marijuana and money with the direct involvement of three other defendants: Robert Jamison, Antony Smiles and Jesse Hinton Jr.
After being arrested in August, Jamison cooperated with the police investigation, changing the nature of the crime as an act of revenge over a vehicle fire to one of theft. Jamison also told police that a fifth defendant, Justin Collins, was not actually present during the robbery.
Collins, 22, of Mt. Pleasant, was arrested and charged at the same times as Norfleat, but waived his preliminary hearing.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Norfleat defense attorney, Dan O’neil questioned the narrative that Norfleat pulled the trigger by suggesting that his client was implicated by a combination of a witness who got a key identification wrong and a cooperating snitch.
The witness in question had put Collins at the scene of the crime, but that changed after Jamison told investigators that Collins wasn’t there. It is believed that the witness, who fled the shooting out of a window and told police he saw Collins, misidentified Collins for Jamison.
O’neil asked Mt. Pleasant det. Sgt. Chuck morrison how he could be sure they had the right suspect based on that witness’s testimony while he had a gun pointed at him if he identified the wrong one while running outwith no gun pointed at him.
Morrison, who O’neil called as a witness, said that he felt like the witness’s identification of Nor fleat was credible.
Earlier in the day, another Mt. Pleasant detective testified for Barberi.
Dave Sabuda described how he and another officer executed a search
warrant on an apartment in Deerfield Village where they found the gun believed used in the incident.
Nor fleat, Collins and Collins’ girlfriend were linked to the apartment during a traffic stop after the shooting.
Sabuda and the girlfriend went to the apartment so she could subdue pit bulls there. One of the dogs bumped into a living room table covered in supplies for making marijuana blunts and that a live 9mm round rolled off it and between the two officers.
A 9mm pistol was found behind a dining room heating grate in a garbage bag, Sabuda testified. Later, Sabuda said they discovered that while the Smith& Wesson 9mm shield’s serial number had some scratching to it, they were able to identify it as having been stolen from Hamtramck in 2012.
When they found it, the gun had two rounds in the magazine and a partially disassembled slide.
Det. Michael Lee, a specialist sergeant with the Michigan State Police, tied the gun to two bullets found
at the scene. The expert said that he found three holes in Edelen, who was dead by the time police arrived. Two of the bullet holes were in his abdomen and one in his back.
O’neil asked Lee if it was possible there were unaccounted for bullets. Lee said that he only knew what he collected at the scene.
Two additional suspects, arrested after Jamison cooperated, were charged in late September.
Smiles and Hinton Jr. were arrested in late September based on Jamison’s cooperation.
Both were charged with open murder, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, assault with intent to rob while armed, first- degree home invasion, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and four counts of felony firearm. Open murder, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and assault with intent to rob while armed potentially carry life sentences; first-degree home invasion is a 20-year felony; assault with a dangerous weapon is a fouryear felony; and felony firearm is a two-year felony with the sentence running consecutive to the underlying crimes.
Smiles is currently scheduled for his preliminary exam at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 15. Hinton’s is scheduled the same day, but at 11 a.m.