Latest setback in Kettering teen murder case delays trial until fall

The murder trial of a Kettering teenager facing adult charges for the Labor Day weekend 2016 shooting death of a Fairmont High School student has been postponed until November.

The case against Kylen Gregory in the Sept. 4, 2016 shooting of Ronnie Bowers has taken a few twists that have impacted its progression. The trial had been set to start May 7, until an unexpected continuance put the case on hold.

Prior to that, “we were set to go to trial,” said defense attorney Benjamin Swift. “But things happen.”

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Last week Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Dennis Langer said the trial will now begin Nov. 5, the earliest of two “dates that work for everybody.”

The new date was announced during a brief hearing Thursday after court officials met in the judge’s chambers for about 30 minutes.

Gregory pleaded not guilty in August 2017 to two counts of murder and related charges. He was indicted on adult charges last summer after a pair of Ohio Supreme Court rulings – both involving the transfer of juvenile cases to adult court - impacted the status of his case twice in five months.

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“We had to work out everybody’s schedule – not just the attorneys, but the witnesses,” Swift said. “They’ve got a lot of experts from the state crime lab, etc….and then the judge has a month long trial in the fall that he cannot move. So based on that, that’s why it’s set in November.”

The case has a list of potential witnesses that totals more than 120.

The witness list includes more than 40 members of safety forces – including local police and members of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation – as well as nine staff members at Kettering Medical Center, court records show.

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Gregory and Bowers were both 16 at the time of the shooting, which occurred about 9 p.m. on Willowdale Avenue in Kettering. Gregory turned 18 in March.

Police said Bowers was an “innocent bystander” who was attempting to flee a confrontation - which had rekindled earlier that night at Alterfest - when the shooting occurred. Gregory and Bowers did not know each other, authorities and court witnesses have said.

Bowers died two days after the shooting in what was ruled Kettering’s first gun-related homicide since 2007.

Gregory has been in juvenile detention since shortly after the shooting. His bond was set at $1 million.

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