A number of notable criminal cases are still pending in Ottawa County and Allegan County in February, including several rescheduled trials and upcoming hearings in cases involving domestic assault, murder or theft.
Here’s where they stand:
Cinecca Madison
Cinecca Madison has a scheduling conference Feb. 20 in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court. Madison, 21, is charged with open murder, assault with intent to commit murder, and two felony firearm charges after 19-year-old Antory Burrell was killed and 18-year-old Demontae Knight Jr. was shot in June 2022.
Knight told police he played dead to avoid being shot again. Burrell and Knight Jr. were attacked while riding bikes on 18th Street and College Avenue near Hope College in Holland. According to police, all three men knew each other.
In an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, Madison hopes to argue a diagnosis of schizophrenia proves he was legally insane at the time of the shooting. Three mental health experts have examined him and found otherwise. At last update, oral arguments were held in October 2025.
Juan Sandro Cabrera
Juan Sandro Cabrera has a scheduling conference March 6 in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court. Cabrera was found guilty of killing 14-year-old TJ Wells in a gang-related incident at the Hampton Inn Hotel in Holland Township in 2019. Cabrera was 18 at the time of the shooting. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In March 2023, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Cabrera should be re-sentenced after a 2022 finding that automatic life sentences for 18-year-old murderers violated the state’s ban on “cruel or unusual” punishment.
Juan Nunez
A hearing for Juan Nunez has been scheduled for April 10 in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court. Nunez was convicted of murdering Pereddies Restaurant employee Scott Anderson, 22, during a robbery gone wrong in 1997. Nunez was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Nunez was 16 at the time, making him Ottawa County’s only “juvenile lifer.” Nunez was granted re-sentencing in 2016 and was again given life without the possibility of parole. That sentence was vacated by the Michigan Supreme Court in December 2022. Nunez will now receive a third sentencing.
Wesley Pawloski
Wesley Pawloski is scheduled for sentencing in both cases against him Feb. 9 before Judge Jon Hulsing in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court. Pawloski, 30, of Grand Rapids, pled guilty June 2. He was accused of construction fraud costing homeowners and businesses over $100,000.
According to police, Pawloski allegedly accepted money for construction projects he never completed. His sentencing has been rescheduled twice to allow him time to pay restitution.
Randall Grinwis
Randall Grinwis is scheduled for a jury trial beginning Feb. 24 before Judge Karen Miedema in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court. Grinwis, 58, is accused of killing his girlfriend, Donna Hyma, 63, on New Year’s Day 2024 in Zeeland Township. A post-mortem autopsy confirmed Hyma died of asphyxiation (suffocation).
Angel Vazquez
Angel Vazquez is scheduled for sentencing Feb. 16 before Judge Karen Miedema in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court. Vazquez, 31, pled guilty to one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder shortly before his trial was slated to begin.
According to a release from the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to Windmill Lakes Apartments in December 2024 after a witness reported a woman jumping from a window and fleeing an apartment.
Upon arrival, deputies learned the 23-year-old woman had been assaulted by her reportedly armed ex-boyfriend. She was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The Sentinel does not identify victims of domestic assault.
Christian Montijo
Christian Montijo has four cases open against him in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court.
Montijo is charged with one count of assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder; two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon; one count of domestic violence; one count of third-degree sexual conduct; one count of third-degree fleeing and eluding a police officer; and one count each of felony firearm and reckless driving.
All of his proceedings will take place before Judge Karen Miedema.
In the case regarding assault with a dangerous weapon, felony firearm and reckless driving, Montijo is scheduled for a jury trial April 29. In the case regarding third-degree fleeing and eluding a police officer, Montijo is scheduled for a jury trial May 14.
In the case regarding assault with intent to do bodily harm less than murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and domestic violence, Montijo is scheduled for a jury trial May 15. In the case regarding third-degree sexual conduct, Montijo is scheduled for a jury trial May 26.
Montijo has a motion hearing for all cases Feb. 23.
Montijo, 32, of Manassas, Virginia, is accused of assaulting a Holland Township woman several times in December 2024, then leaving the state for a period of time to avoid police, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office.
Police said investigation for the ongoing domestic incident uncovered stalking behavior, damage to the victim’s vehicle, domestic violence, assaults at gunpoint, and fleeing and eluding.
The incidents began in December, paused when Montijo was believed to have fled, then resumed in May 2025, according to OCSO.
In the early morning hours of May 29, the victim, 31, allegedly discovered Montijo hiding in the back seat of her vehicle as she was getting ready to go to work. He damaged her vehicle, according to OCSO, and fled from responding deputies.
Karen Boes
Karen Boes is scheduled for evidentiary hearings Feb. 5-6 and Feb. 12-13 in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court before Judge Karen Miedema. The hearings are expected to include testimony from fire and false confession experts.
The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered the hearings in July 2025, based on the defense’s argument that clashing opinions in fire science and Boes’ susceptibility to suggestion during interrogation are significant enough to warrant another chance before a jury.
Boes’ daughter Robin, 14, died of smoke inhalation during a fire police said Boes intentionally set in June 2002. Boes was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Michelle Matos-Colon
Michelle Matos-Colon is scheduled for a jury trial May 5 in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court before Judge Jon Hulsing.
Matos-Colon is charged with open murder and felony firearm in the death of her husband in Georgetown Township. Open murder is a combination of first- and second-degree murder, allowing the jury to decide the degree based on the evidence presented at trial.
Second-degree murder can carry up to life in prison, but first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence without parole. Matos-Colon’s bond was set at $1 million. She remains lodged in the Ottawa County Jail.
Jose Rosales-Torres
Jose Rosales-Torres is scheduled for a jury trial Feb. 24 before Judge Jon Hulsing.
Rosales-Torres, 21, of Holland, is charged with armed robbery and fourth-degree fleeing and eluding police. His bond was set at $350,000 and he remains in custody at the Ottawa County Jail.
Rosales-Torres is accused of robbing the West Olive One-Stop on Oct. 29. Two suspects reportedly threatened the store’s clerk with a handgun before stealing merchandise and fleeing prior to police arrival, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office. The clerk was uninjured.
After a failed pursuit, deputies with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office found the suspects’ vehicle abandoned and three individuals fleeing on foot. They were taken into custody and turned over to OCSO. Two were ultimately charged — Rosales-Torres and an unnamed 16-year-old.
Jason Varnado
Jason Varnado is scheduled for a probable cause conference Feb. 5 before Judge Craig Bunce in Ottawa County’s 58th District Court.
Varnado, 23, is charged with first-degree home invasion, third-degree killing/torturing an animal, and felonious assault.
According to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, Varnado approached a residence on New Holland Street for unknown reasons and forced entry into the home following a brief discussion with the homeowner. His dog, the owner said, came to his aid and engaged with Varnado, allowing him to retreat — though he and the animal were stabbed.
The dog, Chief, didn’t survive his injuries. Varnado allegedly fled, but was located with the assistance of OCSO’s K-9 Team and Drone Team. Varnado remains in custody at the Ottawa County Jail with a bond of $250,000.
Shaun Michael Brown
Shaun Michael Brown is scheduled for preliminary examination May 14 before Judge Judith Mulder in Ottawa County’s 58th District Court.
Brown, 48, is charged with one count of false pretenses $50,000 but less than $100,000 (a 15-year felony) and six counts of taxes failure to file/false return (each 5-year felonies).
Brown allegedly defrauded a victim by selling him a 2021 Corvette for $95,000 and then failing to provide a valid title for the vehicle. Brown also allegedly failed to pay income or sales taxes from 2020 through 2022 on the vehicle sale proceeds or the over $1.1 million he’d earned from unlicensed marijuana sales.
Andrew Louis Harper
Andrew Louis Harper is scheduled for arraignment Feb. 16 in Ottawa County’s 20th Circuit Court before Judge Jon Hulsing.
Harper, 48, is accused of shooting two men following an argument Nov. 15, 2025 inside a business at 90 Douglas Ave. Harper was charged with assault with intent to murder, felonious assault and felony firearm as a fourth-degree habitual offender. His bond was set at $500,000.
Nicholas Phelps
Nicholas Phelps is scheduled for preliminary examination Feb. 20 in Ottawa County’s 58th District Court before Judge Craig Bunce. Phelps, a military recruiter working near Grand Haven, is charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person aged 13-15, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a release, OCSO began investigating reports of inappropriate contact between teenage students and Phelps in August 2025. They believe Phelps utilized his position to make contact with “multiple females” from local schools and “sexual contact and inappropriate messaging” took place.
Terry Lee Boss
Terry Lee Boss is scheduled for sentencing March 3 before Judge Emily Jipp in Allegan County’s 48th Circuit Court.
Boss, 56, is charged with second-degree murder, operating while intoxicated causing death, and reckless driving causing death following a crash in April 2025.
Boss allegedly crossed the centerline on Baseline Road and sideswiped an eastbound truck before losing control and turning off the roadway, striking several people and a tree before stopping in the shallow portion of Baseline Lake.
The crash resulted in the death of eight-month-old Lucia Iris Seifried.
— Cassidey Kavathas is the politics and court reporter at The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at ckavathas@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on X @cassideykava.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Here’s an update on 14 major court cases in Ottawa County
Reporting by Cassidey Kavathas, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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