MORE: Court docs: Third teen charged in Middletown murder made sure victim was home alone
Court-appointed attorneys Michele Temmel and John Kaspar requested Kyles be evaluated for competency. Judge Charles Pater ordered the evaluation and set a hearing for Jan. 7.
If found guilty, Kyles could be sentenced to life in prison. Bond was set at an earlier hearing at $1 million.
Kyles has two previous pending cases for participating in gang activity and a drug charge. In the gang case pending before Judge Michael Oster, he was evaluated and found competent to stand trial.
Evidence, including guns and a plastic bag of bullets, were found and seized by police at his residence.
Kyles confessed to shooting Stewart, according to court documents. According to a search warrant affidavit signed by Middletown Detective Kristi Hughes, after police found Stewart dead at his home, Kyles was developed as a suspect.
At the time, Kyles was also wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor for an indictment in a drug case and for participation in a gang. Both indictments were handed down in the summer.
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Hughes said in the search warrant that “it is believed that through GPS of (his) ankle monitor that this will confirm the series of events on the date of Michael Stewart’s death.”
Kyles was taken into custody at a Sharon Court address after detectives tracked his ankle monitor, according to court documents. Seized in a search of that residence was a counterfeit $100 bill, a cellphone, electronics and money.
Middletown police Maj. Scott Reeve said Stewart’s shooting is part of ongoing gang activity. Kyles is believed to be part of the Road Runner gang that has been involved in shootings and homicides in the city in recent years.
Two other teens have been charged by Middletown police in the homicide. A 15-year-old boy is charged with murder, burglary and robbery after his arrest. According to the complaint filed by Middletown detectives, the Cincinnati boy conspired with others to steal marijuana and money from Stewart. The teen is scheduled to be back in juvenile court Thursday for a pre-trial hearing.
The 15-year-old and others went to the Stewart residence with a loaded gun and “(the 15-year-old) went into 812 Ninth Ave. to see if Michael Stewart was inside his house alone,” according to the complaint.
After leaving the residence, the teen met with another suspect and gave him the “OK,” according to the complaint.
That is when another suspect later identified Kyles entered the residence, shot Stewart and stole from the house, according to police.
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Camron Pawlowski, 17, is facing charges of murder, robbery and burglary for the fatal shooting. He is being tried as an adult after a juvenile judge found probable cause and sent the case to a grand jury for consideration.
Pawlowski allegedly drove the 15-year-old and Kyles to the Stewart residence and parked in an alley, according to court records.
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