Boy, 17, ordered to stand trial for murder in killing of Lansing teen
LANSING — The case against a 17-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting another teen in a southwest Lansing apartment last month is moving to the next level.
After conducting a preliminary hearing Dec. 4, visiting 54A District Judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt ordered Rehmier Westmoreland to stand trial in circuit court on charges of open murder and gun possession.
For now, at least, Westmoreland will stay away from adult inmates at the Ingham County Jail.
Westmoreland is charged as an adult with the murder of Javiahn Latham, 18, who died of multiple gunshot wounds, in the bedroom of an apartment in the 2000 block of Georgetown Boulevard on Nov. 11.
Westmoreland told police he opened fire after Latham “stood up aggressively” as he pulled a gun from his sweatshirt pocket, Lansing police Detective Kara Freeman testified. Westmoreland said he dropped his gun and picked up Latham’s before fleeing the scene, she said.
Westmoreland said he threw the gun away as he fled, but police conducted five searches along the escape route and found no weapon, witnesses said.
Officers who responded to the shooting went looking for Westmoreland and found him coming out of a wooded area, Lansing Police Officer Marquis Washington testified. Westmoreland lay on the ground and was arrested without incident. he said.
Ten 9mm shell casings were found in the house where the shooting took place, witnesses said. A 9mm handgun that police said was used in the shooting was found in a canvas bag in the bedroom where Latham died.
Latham’s body lay face up on the bedroom floor, and a crime scene investigator said he counted “at least 11” wounds, none of which were on the front of Latham’s body.
An autopsy showed Latham had “two bullet holes in the left buttock, one in the lower back, one in the right arm, one in the left shoulder that appeared to be a very close gunshot, three in the upper back and one in the back of the head,” Lansing police said in a court filing at the time Westmoreland was charged.
All wound entrances had a back-to-front trajectory, the court document states.
A fired bullet was found under the carpet in another bedroom, where it had come to rest after passing through a wall, furniture and a backpack, said crime scene investigator, Lansing Officer Sam Fearnow.
During an interview with police that lasted more than an hour, Westmoreland said he did not know whether Latham had fired any shots, and he never asked whether Latham was dead, Freeman, the detective, said.
Police determined the gun used in the shooting was stolen from Hamilton County, Indiana, Freeman said. Westmoreland produced proof of Indiana residency, she said.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared in the Lansing State Journal: A 17-year-old boy has been ordered to stand trial on murder charges in the killing of a Lansing teen.
