LIMA — A 16-year-old boy pleaded not guilty Monday to an amended indictment that includes murder in the killing of a man at Meat City earlier this year.
Albert McDowell III, 16, pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder with a firearm and one count of felonious assault with a firearm. The murder charges only allege one killing, but two counts were included under two separate sections of law under the charge of murder.
The two charges give the jury a chance to choose either charge based on the section of law the jury believes better fits the crime, said Holly Urbanick, an assistant Allen County prosecutor.
McDowell faces up to life in prison on the charges that accuse him of killing Da’Veon Petaway, 19, on March 7. Petaway was shot once in the abdomen at Meat City at 801 E. Kibby St.
McDowell’s trial is scheduled for Nov. 7 and he has a final pretrial scheduled for Sept. 9.
McDowell’s case began at juvenile court, but the prosecution sought to try him as an adult, and a judge at juvenile court granted the request.
McDowell spent nearly a month on the run after the killing of Petaway. Police tracked him down and captured him at a rest area near Piqua as he made one last attempt to get away.
Police also have said McDowell is a suspect in the killing of Petaway’s brother, Kylil Florence, in January 2015. McDowell, however, has not been charged in that murder.
Witnesses placed two males at the scene of the 2015 murder, but only Damere Crockett, 17, was charged and convicted so far. Crockett was sent to prison for 12 years.
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