Update: Murder charge against WMU basketball player shocks supporters

KALAMAZOO, MI -- A phone left at an apartment adjacent to Western Michigan University where a student was shot and killed was one piece of evidence that led to charges against a basketball player, according to court testimony.

A Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety detective testified Monday, Dec. 12, to District Court Judge Richard A. Santoni that detectives used the phone in their investigation and found the number to be associated with 20-year-old WMU guard Joeviair Kennedy.

Kennedy is charged with open murder, armed robbery and two felony firearm charges related to the Thursday, Dec. 8, fatal shooting of 19-year-old WMU student Jacob Ryan Jones.

Kalamazoo police were called at 10:28 p.m. for a report of a shooting believed to be fatal in the 700 block of South Howard Street, where Jones was pronounced dead, a detective testified during Monday's court hearing.

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.

Kennedy was found to match the description of one of the robbers provided by witnesses and was arrested and lodged at the Kalamazoo County Jail, the detective said.

Until the Thanksgiving holiday, Kennedy resided in an apartment building located next to the crime scene, the detective testified.

District Court Judge Anne E. Blatchford read the charges against Kennedy during an arraignment Monday, asking if he understood the charges that carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Kennedy replied "Yes Ma'am" to questions and showed little emotion while wearing an orange jumpsuit during the video arraignment.

"I have an attorney to represent me," Kennedy said when asked about his plans for representation.

The judge denied bond because of the nature of the charges.

Kennedy's uncle and another friend were among the crowd in the courtroom Monday.

Kalamazoo police did not immediately answer a request for more information on the case, including the status of a second robber.

At the time of the shooting, witness Levi LaBar said he was inside his second-story apartment when he heard a gunshot coming from inside the building.

He said he looked through the peephole in the door out onto the landing and saw two men run down from upstairs and pause for a moment.

On the landing outside of his door, LaBar said, "One of them said to the other: 'Why didn't you tell me, man?' Like he didn't know he was going to shoot the gun. Then they kept running down the stairs and out into the parking lot."

Police swarmed the building soon after, he said.

"Officers arriving on the scene immediately determined that the crime was not a random act," the university said in a statement. "The suspects were known individuals, and they had already fled the scene, so there was not a continuing threat."

Before he accepted a scholarship offer in May 2015 to play basketball at WMU, Kennedy was a basketball standout at Muskegon High School.

Jones, a freshman from Onsted who transferred from Olivet College, enrolled at WMU for the spring 2016 semester and was majoring in exercise science, the university said.