Supreme Court reversal has ‘rare’ impact on Kettering teen murder case

An Ohio Supreme Court’s reversal of its December ruling on transferring juvenile cases to adult court is a “rare” circumstance, according to a local court administrator.

The state court’s reversal last month was especially uncommon because it came between dates of a hearing scheduled because of the justices’ December decision that mandatory juvenile transfers were unconstitutional, said Montgomery County Juvenile Court Administrator James Cole.

That case involves murder charges against a Kettering 17-year-old in the fatal shooting of a Fairmont High School junior, the city’s first gun-related homicide since 2007.

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“What is a little bit different here is you are midstream during the actual amenability hearing,” he said. “It’s just a little bit different that you’re in mid-hearing when this decision comes out.”

The Ohio Supreme Court’s December ruling required a hearing for youth defendants to see if they were amenable to juvenile court treatment. The hearing for Kylen Jamal Gregory started May 24 and was continued to July 7.

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The Kettering teen faces murder charges for the September fatal shooting of Fairmont junior Ronnie Bowers. Juvenile Court Judge Anthony Capizzi in February set the amenability hearing after he found probable cause for the charges against Gregory based largely on testimony of two teens who agreed to plea deals.

A day after Gregory’s hearing started, the supreme court reversed its earlier ruling, prompting prosecutors June 20 to again seek a mandatory transfer to adult court, a move they initially sought in October.

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The situation is “is a rare, rare occurrence” Cole said. “So I think across the state juvenile courts are kind of feeling their way along to how they are approaching the cases pending before them.”

The Gregory case is among about six juvenile cases the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office is seeking to have transferred to adult court.

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The motion filed last week “requests that this court transfer Gregory immediately. The law at the time of the crime and the law currently, is that murder with a firearm specification where the juvenile is 16 years or older is a mandatory transfer case.”

Capizzi may rule on the prosecution’s motion before July 7 or wait for the court date, Cole said.

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Two teen witnesses who said they were with Gregory testified they saw him fire a shot into a car driven by Bowers as the victim and others sought to flee a confrontation involving their two groups Sept. 4 on Willowdale Avenue. Police said Bowers died two days later from injuries in the shooting, which was later ruled a homicide.

The shooting occurred about 9 p.m. the Sunday of Labor Day weekend shortly after both groups left AlterFest, where the an ongoing dispute rekindled, according to court testimony.

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Police called Bowers an innocent bystander. Both law enforcement and the two teen witnesses said the dispute did not involve Bowers, but others in his car.

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