MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – An accused murderer laid in wait for his victim to return home from work and then used the victim’s own shotgun to kill him, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The allegations were laid out at the arraignment Friday of Ryan Allen Berry, 27, of Holton for open murder in Thursday’s shooting death of 28-year-old Evan Yonker in Muskegon County.

Berry, appearing in a green suicide gown, was formally charged during the noon Aug. 16 arraignment in Muskegon County District Court. He also was charged with unlawful imprisonment and two counts of committing a felony while armed with a firearm.

“This appears to be an act been carried out by Mr. Berry in a premeditated fashion and also to have been committed while lying in wait for the victim in his home to return from work at which point the victim was shot by Mr. Berry with his own shotgun,” Matt Roberts, chief trial attorney for the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office, told Judge Raymond Kostrzewa.

Following the shooting, Berry allegedly forced his ex-girlfriend, the current girlfriend of Yonker, to drive him to Grand Haven where he went into Lake Michigan in an apparent suicide attempt, Roberts told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle.

“It took a number of efforts by first responders in Ottawa County to secure Mr. Berry and take him into custody,” Roberts said in court.

Kostrzewa agreed to deny bond after Roberts argued that Berry is a danger to others and himself. He set a preliminary examination for 10 a.m. Sept. 4 in front of Muskegon County District Judge Geoffrey Nolan.

The shooting was reported just after 11 a.m. Aug. 15 by another of Berry’s ex-girlfriends, Roberts told MLive without elaborating. Muskegon County Sheriff Michael Poulin said earlier that the homicide occurred on Meeuwenberg Road in Twin Lake, which is located north of Muskegon.

It wasn’t clear how Berry got into the home where Yonker’s girlfriend was present, Roberts told MLive. While he was there, the woman apparently was trying to alert authorities, he said.

The shotgun used in the shooting, which Berry allegedly tossed out of the vehicle while being driven to Grand Haven, has been recovered, Roberts said.

Berry is charged as a four-time habitual offender. His prior felony convictions include malicious destruction of property over $1,000 and unlawfully driving away a vehicle in Ottawa County in 2011 and second-degree home invasion in Kent County in 2012, Roberts said.

He told Kostrzewa he has no job or income, prompting the judge to grant him a public defender.