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.
Investigators’ vehicles are pictured Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in a field where Lenawee County Sheriff Troy Bevier said a hunter was shot by another hunter.
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. Stubbins is also charged with felony firearm.
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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 article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Trial set for teen charged with killing mom’s boyfriend in 2023