Lawyer: Teens Accused Of Terrorism Didn't Plan To Carry Out Shootings At 2 Michigan Schools
FLINT (WWJ/AP) - A defense lawyer says three teenage boys charged with conspiring to shoot people at a pair of Michigan schools never intended to follow through with any possible threats.
The three teens -- 18-year old Ryan Stevens of Linden, 15-year old Lamarr Dukes of West Bloomfield, and 15-year old Cody Brewer of Wolverine Lake -- were arrested Oct. 29 -- a day before the planned shooting -- and never reached school property. They're charged as adults with conspiring to commit first-degree murder and making a false threat of terrorism. A hearing originally planned for Thursday was rescheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 18.
Police in Genesee County's Argentine Township's say the alleged plot was uncovered in the Linden school district, 20 miles south of Flint, and included specific targets at Linden High School and Linden Middle School. Investigators say information led them to believe the threats were credible.
Stevens is a former Linden student. His lawyer Ken Karasick told The Flint Journal the case appears to be one of young people not fully understanding the consequences of their actions.
"I think that it would appear to be teenagers who are lacking a fully developed brain, texting and Instagraming and using social media without thinking of the consequences," Karasick said. "I think once everything is sifted out, that there might be a resolution far less than what we're looking at right now."
The threats began when a female student at Linden High School posted something derogatory about Stevens online using Instagram, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said. She took the post down a short while later, Leyton said, but began getting threats that she reported to police.
"I don't know specifically, other than it was an issue as to his veracity," Leyton told the newspaper.
Karasick described it as a boyfriend-girlfriend spat that got out of hand.
"That's what it started out as, you know, 'I don't like you' and 'Well, we're going to get you,' and back and forth and that just rose to a level -- and then you get a couple other people involved and, you know, everybody wants to be a man and then they just lose control," he said.
Lawyer Jodi L. Hemingway, who represents Dukes, she said she hopes that it will become clear that there was no plan to follow through with any threats.
"I can certainly appreciate erring on the side of caution with allegations of this nature," Hemingway said. "I don't disagree with Mr. Leyton saying that you can't take a wait-and-see approach in this type of circumstance, but I think ... it will be clear that this was 'social media gone wild' and not a serious plan to do anyone harm."
Brewer's attorney, Elbert Hatchett, agreed that the threats were just empty chatter on social media.
"I don't think my client poses a serious risk to anybody," he said. "He's an athlete, he's basically a good young man and we would hope that we will be able to have this matter resolved -- or at least extricate him from his incarceration until this matter has been resolved."
Stevens is lodged at the Genesee County Jail. Because of their ages, Dukes and Brewer are being held at the Genesee Regional Detention Center in Flint. All three face life in prison if convicted as charged.
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