Details from Campus Habitat botched robbery emerge
Last April’s botched heist in Campus Habitat apartments might have been the second marijuana dealer targeted by some of the men accused in the murder of a Wyoming (Mich.) man.
A witness called in the preliminary hearings of two of the suspects accused of taking part in the death of Rayen Tre-von Edelen told an Isabella County judge that a man confronted her ex-boyfriend of robbing from him in midmarch.
Courtney Houston, testifying at a hearing that will determine whether Justin Collins and Jesse Hinton will face trial in the shooting death of Edelen, told the court that the man confronted Collins, 23, of Mt. Pleasant, over social media.
The man had come to her door looking for Collins, who was living with her.
She also said that a fire involving her car might have been an act of revenge by the man.
A beef involving that car fire was originally given as a possible motive behind the incident that led to Edelen’s death. Instead, it appears to have been a planned and orchestrated scheme to rob a marijuana dealer that went wrong.
Collins and Hinton, 21, of Chicago, were two of five people charged with Edelen’s death. Miykael Norfleat, who pulled
the trigger, was sentenced to 31-50 years for seconddegree murder, 18-40 years for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and 32 months to four years for assault with a dangerous weapon in late January.
One of the other, Antony Smiles, testified Monday that while Collins wasn’t present for the robbery that he knew about it. He also described the fifth man charged, Robert Jamison, as the plan’s mastermind.
He also said that Norfleat was a late add after a sixth man backed out.
Norfleat shot Edelen after going into his apartment to take marijuana belonging to a different man. There were two other people present who jumped out of windows to escape.
When they were crafting the plan, originally they told Norfleat not to use the gun, according to this week’s testimony.
Two of the others were supposed to provide muscle, leaving Smiles as the getaway driver.
Testimony wrapped up Tuesday afternoon while the defense was cross-examining Houston. The hearing was originally scheduled to run all-day Monday, but that bled into Tuesday afternoon.
It is scheduled to resume May 21 at 9 a.m.
Jamison is currently scheduled for trial in May. Smiles is currently scheduled for trial in June.