LANSING — The case against a 17-year-old boy charged with gunning down another teenager in a southwest Lansing apartment last month is moving on to the next level.
After conducting a preliminary hearing on Dec. 4, visiting 54A District Judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt ordered Rehmier Westmoreland to stand trial in circuit court on charges of open murder and felony firearm possession.
For now, at least, Westmoreland will remain sequestered from adult inmates in the Ingham County Jail.
Westmoreland is charged as an adult with murdering 18-year-old Javiahn Latham, who died from multiple gunshot wounds, in the bedroom of an apartment in the 2000 block of Georgetown Boulevard on Nov. 11.
Westmoreland told police he opened fire after Latham “got up in an aggressive manner” while pulling a gun from the pocket of his sweatshirt, Lansing police Detective Kara Freeman testified. Westmoreland said he dropped his gun and picked up the gun Latham had before fleeing from the scene, she said.
Westmoreland said he tossed the weapon as he fled, but police did five searches along the escape route and did not find a weapon, witnesses said.
Officers who responded to the shooting went searching for Westmoreland and found him coming out of a wooded area, Lansing Police Officer Marquis Washington testified. Westmoreland laid down on the ground and was arrested without incident. he said.
Ten spent, 9mm shell casings were found in the house where the shooting occurred, witnesses said. A 9mm handgun that police said was used in the shooting was found in a canvas bag in the bedroom where Latham died.
Latham’s body lay face-up on the bedroom floor, and a crime scene investigator said he counted “at least 11” wounds, none of them to the front of Latham’s body.
An autopsy showed Latham had “two bullet holes to his left buttocks, one to his lower back, one to his right arm, one to his left shoulder which appeared to be a very close gunshot, three to his upper back, and one to the back of the head,” Lansing police said in a court filing at the time Westmoreland was charged.
All wound entries had a back-to-front trajectory, the court document said
A fired bullet was found beneath the carpet in another bedroom, where it had come to rest after passing through a wall, a piece of furniture and a backpack, said the crime scene investigator, Lansing Officer Sam Fearnow.
During a police interview that continued for more than an hour, Westmoreland said he didn’t know if Latham fired any shots, and he never asked if Latham was dead, Freeman, the detective, testified.
Police determined the gun used in the shooting was reported stolen from Hamilton County, Indiana, Freeman said. Westmoreland produced proof of residency in Indiana, she said.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Boy, 17, ordered to stand trial for murder in killing of Lansing teen
Reporting by Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
