THIRD PERSON PLEADS GUILTY IN KETTERING TEEN’S DEATH
Miles Heizer admits to role in Kettering teen’s death in 2016.
A third defendant has pleaded guilty in connection with the fatal shooting of a Kettering Fairmont High School student two years ago.
Convicted felon Miles Heizer has joined two juveniles in admitting to crimes involving the Sept. 4, 2016, fatal shooting of 16-yearold Ronnie Bowers.
In court records for which access is restricted or sealed, Heizer pleaded guilty to tampering in the Bowers case. The Dayton Daily News obtained the documents through a public records request.
The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office “cannot comment on this as it is an ongoing, pending case,” a spokeswoman said Tuesday in an email responding to a series of questions. “The documents relating to the plea are currently under seal by the court.”
Two teens last year testified that Heizer, 20, was driving the car the night they said Kylen Gregory fired a shot into the back of Bowers’ car as Bowers sought to flee a Willowdale Avenue dispute. The two teens, a 15-yearold and a 16-year-old, testified after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors on tampering with evidence charges.
The two juvenile witnesses also testified that they, Gregory, Heizer and a fifth male were all in the same car. The two juvenile witnesses, Gregory and Heizer are all from Kettering.
Bowers, described by police as an “innocent bystander,” died from a head wound two days later in what the coroner ruled was Kettering’s first gun-related homicide since 2007.
Gregory — indicted on adult charges last year as a 17-yearold — pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, five felonious assault charges and discharging a firearm in a prohibited area.
The plea by Heizer — who is serving two years for 2016 and 2017 convictions in other cases — was made May 18, about three weeks after a bill of information was filed and after Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Dennis Langer signed documents limiting public access to the Heizer case, court documents show.
“In balancing the public’s right
to access public records with the defendant’s constitutional rights to a fair trial, the court hereby finds that the remote access restriction is necessary,” Langer stated in an April 24 filing.
Another filing Langer signed that day states “it is ordered that the state’s exhibit 1 be sealed and not divulged to anyone.”
A handwritten sentence on that same document states “the court further seals the video transcript of the plea proceeding and the entry.”
Heizer’s attorney, Dennis Lieberman, called the bill of information and plea agreement “routine,” but said he “can’t comment any further on any of the agreements that might have been reached other than what was actually done in the case publicly.”
The bill of information filed April 24 lists four charges — tampering with evidence, assault, aggravated menacing and contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a child — against Heizer.
The document filed May 18 — stamped “SEALED” in black type — lists only a guilty plea to the tampering charge.
Heizer’s sentencing is pending, court records show. Gregory’s trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 5.
Gregory is being held on a $1 million bail in juvenile detention.