ARMED ROBBER WILL STAND TRIAL MARCH 12

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
NILES – Two area men charged in connection with high-profile cases were bound over for trial after preliminary hearings last week in Berrien County Trial Court at the Niles courthouse. Meanwhile, a Stevensville woman pleaded guilty for tampering with evidence in connection with an early November Eau Claire homicide.
Elizabeth Deanne Harper, 43, of Stevensville, had been charged with tampering with evidence and being an accessory after the fact related to the Nov. 2 shooting death of firefighter Chad Medlin in Eau Claire.
Berrien County Assistant Prosecutor Kate Arnold said Harper pleaded guilty last Tuesday to the tampering charge in exchange for the accessory after the fact charge being dismissed. The plea agreement does not include requiring Harper to testify against the man charged in the homicide.
Harper will be sentenced Jan. 27 and faces up to 10 years in prison. She remains in jail in lieu of $25,000 cash or surety bond.
Arnold said Harper told Berrien County Trial Court Judge Jennifer Smith that she picked up Rigoberto Gomez, the suspect in the Nov. 2 homicide, in Millberg and took him back to her mother’s home in Coloma Township.
Harper said Gomez didn’t tell her what had happened except that there had been an altercation. She said that she looked outside the home the next morning after Gomez had been arrested by Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputies and found a black box in the backyard. She then threw it into the woods off of Rocky Gap Road on her way to work.
Gomez faces six felony charges: open murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. His pre-exam conference is set for Dec. 26 with a possible preliminary hearing after that. His case had been delayed by his efforts to obtain an attorney.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight on Nov. 2 when Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to downtown Eau Claire on reports of an altercation and a shooting at the intersection of Main and Elm Streets in the village. They found Medlin unresponsive as well as another man who was injured. Medlin later died at the hospital.

Two other men are scheduled to stand trial in March in their respective cases, one in connection with a November shooting at the Niles Speedway and the other involving a string of central Berrien County armed robberies from June to November.
Alonzo Dominic Davis, 39, of Niles, was bound over for trial on five felony charges: assault with intent to murder, unarmed robbery, felon in a possession of a firearm and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. His next court dates include a Jan. 22 case conference and a trial March 12-14.
The incident occurred Nov. 18 outside the Speedway gas station at South 11th and Fort Streets in Niles Township. Davis confronted a former co-worker, Dontae Lavon Murphy, outside the gas station and the two struggled over Murphy’s gun. Davis is alleged to have taken the gun and shot at Murphy.
Murphy and Berrien County Sheriff’s Department Detective/Lieutenant Ian Dodd testified at the hearing. Murphy testified that Davis came up to his truck and confronted him about Davis losing his job at the place where Murphy also worked and was a supervisor.
Murphy said the two were outside the truck initially and then he went back into his truck when Davis came up again and they wrestled over the gun Murphy had in the pocket of his hoodie. Davis got the gun and fired at Murphy and later admitted to Dodd he would have fired again if it hadn’t jammed. Murphy went inside the gas station and the police were called.
Dodd said he interviewed both men afterwards and also watched the dash cam videos from both Murphy’s and Davis’s vehicles.
Edward Deontae Turner, 38, of Berrien Springs is charged in connection with a string of central county armed robberies from June to November.

Judge Smith bound Turner over for trial on four counts of armed robbery, four counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, four counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and one count of receiving, concealing, possession of a stolen weapon. His bond remains at $250,000 cash or surety.
Turner’s next court dates are Jan. 22 for a case conference and for a trial starting March 12.
The four incidents occurred between June 25 and Nov. 14. The June 25 armed robbery was at the Dollar General in Oronoko Township, the Sept. 6 incident at the Dollar General in Royalton Township, the Oct. 10 incident at the Dollar General in Benton Township and the Nov. 14 incident at the BP gas station in Oronoko Township.
The employees each described the robber as wearing a mask and brandishing a gun. They were each threatened with being shot and told to get money out of cash registers and safes. The robber took the money and ran out of the stores.
Seven people testified last week, four who were store employees robbed in the incidents as well as Turner’s ex-girlfriend who was the original owner of the gun found at Turner’s residence. Berrien County Sheriff’s Department Det/Lt. Ian Dodd and Det. Sgt. Joseph Kovac. Dodd testified that Turner was the suspect in the robberies, and Kovac testified about the analysis of Turner’s cell phone and vehicle data.