2 Ordered To Stand Trial In Homeless Man's Death
FLINT (WWJ/AP) - A young man and a 15-year-old boy have been ordered to stand trial on murder charges in the slaying of a 57-year-old homeless man in Flint.
The case against 20-year-old Peris Dorsette and Brandon Harris, who is charged as an adult, has been bound over for trial in Genesee County Circuit Court, according to The Flint Journal. A District Court judge dismissed torture charges in the case, however.
Dorsette's lawyer Michael Ewing argued that the state torture statute pertains to actions that lead to intentional suffering, which "just didn't exist in this case." But Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said the torture charges were appropriate, adding that he plans to try to have the charges reinstated.
Gary Nagy's body was found July 30 outside the shuttered McKinley Middle School by a bus driver who was practicing maneuvers in the school's parking lot. Police said Nagy was attacked after being taunted about being homeless, and died of head trauma. The beating lasted 10 to 15 minutes, according to court testimony.
At a memorial service for Nagy, his daughter Felicia held back tears as she told the crowd that her dad, a homeless man by choice, "always seemed to instantly become friends with everyone he met."
Felicia said Nagy will be remembered by most as a founder and resident of Tent City, an ex-homeless encampment in woods at an ex-General Motors parking lot in the Flint suburb of Burton.
MORE: Military Funeral Held For Slain Homeless Flint Man
TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
