Western Michigan University student Jacob Jones was shot and killed Thursday during an alleged botched robbery attempt. The suspect in custody is second-year WMU basketball player Joeviair Kennedy.
Kennedy was arrested Friday afternoon and was arraigned on homicide and gun charges Monday.
Police say they found a phone at the crime scene which was tied to Kennedy. According to reports the robbery attempt involved more than one person and was an effort to steal cell phones, money and marijuana.
Detectives learned from witnesses at the apartment that two men entered and Jones was shot when he stood up from the couch, according to testimony.
The robbers demanded cash, marijuana and phones from the four other people at the apartment before one of the victims tackled one of the intruders, the detective testified, resulting in two phones being dropped. The robbers fled and the victims locked the door behind them, witnesses told police.
Detectives called 911 using the two phones and found one was associated with Joeviair Kennedy, based on a June 2016 complaint made from the number to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office, the detective said, and the other phone belonged to Jones.
You can see a witnesses testimony here.
WMU head coach Steve Hawkins talked about Kennedy on Saturday, referring to the “devastating loss” and “tragedy.” He also added they are “very shook by the whole thing.”
Kennedy was immediately suspended from WMU upon his arrest. He’s now been wiped clean from the school’s athletic website.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports.
Screen capture via WWMT
