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Pennington pleads innocent |
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Tuesday, 04 December 2007 |
Spencerville man arraigned in murder of 23-year-old Lima man
 Matthew D. Pennington, right, speaks with his attorney, Mark Weller, following his arraignment Monday at the Auglaize County Courthouse. Pennington pleaded innocent to the Nov. 2 shooting death of Daniel King, of Lima. (Staff photo/ Kristin Reichardt)
By ANNIE ZELM
Staff Writer
The suspect in the shooting death of a 23-year-old Lima man pleaded innocent to five counts of an indictment during an arraignment Monday in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court.
A murder trial is tentatively set for late January.
Matthew D. Pennington, 21, of Spencerville, is charged with one count of murder, one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of reckless homicide, both third-degree felonies, and one count of aggravated menacing, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The murder, involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide charges include a gun specification.
Pennington can only be found guilty of one of the following charges — murder, involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide.
He can only be found guilty of murder if he is first found guilty of a first- or second-degree felony, in this case felonious assault.
He can only be found guilty of involuntary
manslaughter if he is at first found guilty of a misdemeanor of any degree, which in this case is aggravated menacing.
Pennington faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the murder charge.
Judge Frederick Pepple continued Pennington’s bond at $500,000, with a 10 percent cash provision. He was remanded back into the custody of corrections officers with the Auglaize County Jail at the conclusion of the hearing.
Pepple scheduled a tentative date of Jan. 28 for the start of a trial. He also scheduled a pretrial hearing for 10 a.m. Dec. 20.
During the arraignment, Public Defender Mark Weller, who was appointed to represent Pennington, told Pepple he received 59 pages of a discovery packet from the state and was awaiting further discovery.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Amy Otley-Fox said additional discovery materials were still pending and she expects to provide them to Weller by the end of the week.
Pennington surrendered to deputies with the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office near the scene of the shooting at approximately 4:20 a.m. Nov. 2, at a farmhouse near the intersection of Ohio 197 and Ohio 66.
An investigation of the incident revealed Lima resident Daniel King suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head after a confrontation between two groups of young adults during a gathering at residence at a 04165 State Route 197.
The Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, with mutual aid from the St. Marys Police Department, Spencerville Police Department, Wapakoneta Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Wapakoneta Police Department.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation continues to assist the Sheriff’s Office in the investigation. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 05 December 2007 )
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