ADRIAN — A local teen charged with shooting and killing his mother’s boyfriend on Nov. 30, 2023, has been found competent to stand trial, tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 3.
Trenton Karl-Mark Berry, 18, of Rollin Township, appeared in Lenawee County Circuit Court on June 4 for a criminal pretrial conference, during which Judge Anna Marie Anzalone found him competent to stand trial after a forensic interview at the Forensics Center of Psychiatry in Saline on May 13.
Following the determination, Anzalone scheduled the case for a two-week trial beginning Nov. 30, with the defense requesting 2-3 days for witnesses to testify.
Anzalone will meet with defense counsel and the Lenawee County Prosecutor’s Office on Oct. 31 for a final pretrial conference.
Berry is charged with open murder, which allows the jury to determine the degree, in the shooting death of Kirt Stubbins, 41, of Addison. The two were hunting together in Rollin Township at the time of the murder, police said. Berry is also charged with felony firearm.
According to a warrant affidavit, Berry told a detective with the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office that he would never shoot Stubbins. Tracks in the snow at the crime scene were from both men, police said.
Berry was armed with a .350 rifle at the time of the shooting, according to court records. The gun matches the caliber of the bullet removed from Stubbins’ body during an autopsy, later matched to the rifle by the Michigan State Police Crime Lab.
Berry remains held at the Lenawee County Jail on a $5 million bond pending trial.
— Contact reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @cmurrayhdn.
(This story was updated because an earlier version contained an inaccuracy.)
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Teen to stand trial for shooting death of mom’s boyfriend during hunting trip
Reporting by Corey J. Murray, The Daily Telegram / The Daily Telegram
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