SAGINAW, MI — Prosecutors have charged a 14-year-old as an adult with 23 felonies in connection with three separate gun-related incidents.

Carl T. Howard, also known as “Lil Carl,” is charged in connection with incidents on June 19 and July 3 in Saginaw and July 22 in Buena Vista Township in which two people were shot and a third nearly was shot.

“This is what he does,” said Buena Vista Police Detective Sgt. Greg Klecker, one of multiple witnesses to testify regarding Howard during a Wednesday, Sept. 25, “designation hearing.”

“He doesn't appear to have any regard for who he shoots at. In our case, he did not even know our victim.”

In the “designation hearing,” Saginaw County Chief Probate Judge Patrick J. McGraw heard testimony from police and corrections officials regarding Howard and the three incidents in which prosecutors say Howard was involved when he was 13.

After hearing that testimony, the judge determined that Howard should stand trial in the same manner as an adult. The Probate Court's Family Division will keep jurisdiction over the case, but Howard's case, including any possible jury trial and sentence, will proceed as if he were an adult.

In making the designation, McGraw said the adult corrections system offers more rehabilitation-type services than the juvenile system, in which Howard would be housed for possibly as few as three years, if convicted. The judge also noted the seriousness of the charges that Howard faces as well as his alleged roles in those incidents.

After making the designation, McGraw began separate preliminary hearings in connection with each of the incidents in which Howard is charged. Testimony continued Thursday, and McGraw ruled that probable cause existed for trial in the July 3 incident, but postponed the remainder of the hearings for the other two cases after the victims failed to appear to testify. McGraw issued material witness bench warrants for their arrest.

During the designation hearing, both Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. James Bush and Juvenile Probation Officer Keith Pretzer testified that Howard is affiliated with the East Side Gang, whose territory consists of the “numbered streets.”

The first of the three incidents in which Howard is charged is the June 19 gang-related shooting of DeMarcus Essex outside 517 N. Hamilton between Madison and Monroe on the city's West Side.

Bush testified that Essex told police that he was walking with his cousin when Howard and Deandre T. Coleman II approached them on bicycles. Bush said Howard and Coleman pulled out guns on Essex and his cousin, and Howard took Essex's pin honoring Ronnie Clemmons Jr., who was killed during a Sept. 12, 2012, shootout at Federal and South Seventh on the city's East Side.

Bush said that in response, Essex made derogatory comments about Deonte "Tae" Darby, who was shot to death Nov. 11, 2011, at South 17th and Annesley in the East Side Gang's territory. Coleman then chased Essex and shot him five times, including the abdomen and legs, Bush testified.

Bush testified that he interviewed Howard, who admitting taking the pin but denied shooting Essex. Coleman also denied shooting Essex, Bush said.

In connection with that incident, Howard is charged with armed robbery, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Coleman faces that charge as well as charges of assault with intent to murder, conspiring with Howard to commit that crime, and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Howard next is charged with 10 felonies in a July 3 incident at South Ninth and Walnut in which a homeowner told police she saw Howard firing a handgun in a southern direction. Bush testified that one of the bullets struck a house on South Ninth near the porch where two men were sitting, and multiple bullets hit a maroon Chevrolet Tahoe.

Bush said Howard fired in the front yard of a house, and those inside the house went to the ground to avoid gunfire. After gunfire stopped, the homeowner got up and saw Howard place another magazine into the gun and continue firing, Bush said.

When the woman yelled, “Carl, I'm calling the police,” Howard ran away, Bush said.

In that incident, Howard is charged with three counts of felonious assault (or assault with a dangerous weapon), single counts of discharging a firearm at a building and carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, and five counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Finally, Howard is charged with 12 felonies in a July 22 incident that began at the E-Z Stop Party Store, 3124 Hess in Buena Vista Township, and ended at the Crossings apartment complex just east on Hess in Buena Vista.

Klecker, the Buena Vista sergeant, said 17-year-old Bryce Burley told police that Howard and an accomplice approached him and started a conflict with him. Howard pulled a handgun on Burley and “struck him over the head with it,” Klecker said.

Howard then “put the gun in Burley's stomach,” but stopped the assault when traffic became too heavy on Hess, Klecker said.

The assault resumed “minutes later” when Burley crossed paths with Howard and his accomplice at the Crossings, Klecker said. Howard and his accomplice both pulled guns on Burley and fired at him, hitting him once in the leg, Klecker said.

Burley was hospitalized for about five days, Klecker said.

In that incident, Howard is charged with assault with intent to murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, as well as two counts each of felonious assault and carrying a concealed weapon, single counts of the discharging at a building and dangerous weapon charges, and five felony firearm counts.

Howard remains lodged at the Saginaw County Juvenile Detention Center in Saginaw Township.

— Andy Hoag covers courts for MLive/The Saginaw News. Email him at ahoag@mlive.com or f

ollow him on Twitter @awhoag