Teen charged with gun theft in connection to Ross High School student’s death appears in court

A 17-year-old Ross High School student charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a fellow student last month will remain incarcerated until his next court appearance.

The boy, who faces a felony charge of grand theft of a firearm, appeared before Butler County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Craft Monday morning for a pre-trial hearing. According to court documents, the teen removed his father’s .38-caliber handgun from his father’s bedroom and passed it to another subject, who is not named in the documents.

UPDATE: 3 guns, ammo, drug paraphernalia taken from Ross Twp shooting scene

Craft set another hearing for Feb. 26 and ordered the teen to remain in the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center.

A second 17-year-old boy charged with murder, aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence for allegedly fatally shooting Austin Hensley on the evening of Jan. 30 at a residence on Hine Road is scheduled to appear in juvenile court later Monday before Judge Kathleen Romans.

Officials say Hensley’s death was the result of a robbery gone bad. He died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Butler County Coroner’s Office.

“(The shooting suspect) lured (the victim) to the house, they were gonna trade guns, supposedly,” Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said. “In the process, the (shooting suspect) had all intentions of robbing (the victim) that he lured into the house through social media.

MORE: 911 call in Ross High School student shooting released 

“It appears a scuffle took place and then an attempted robbery, and the victim was shot and killed.”

Court documents also say the accused shooter attempted to wipe down the gun and hid it after the incident.

A 911 call was received by dispatchers about 6:30 p.m. from a home in the 900 block of Hine Road from a woman who said she came home from grocery shopping and found the teen dead on the couch. The woman said her son came running to her, saying she needed to call for an ambulance.

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