CIRCUIT COURT: Elkhart murder suspects opt for bench trial

Aug. 31—GOSHEN — Two joint murder charge defendants elected to waive their right to a jury trial during Thursday's court proceedings, opting instead for a bench trial on the same date.

Alvin Sanders III, 21, and Da'Quavion Wiley, 18 are scheduled for a joint bench trial Sept. 18, but Sander's public defender Jeffrey Majerik asked for a continuance expressing to the court that Sanders' family has expressed intent to hire Peter Britton to defend him in the upcoming trial.

Sanders and Wiley are believed by Elkhart police to be responsible for the May 1, 2021, shooting of a 15-year-old boy, who was found outside a McKinley Avenue home in Elkhart, shot in the neck.

In March, attorneys agreed to continue Wiley's April 3 trial, to Sander's scheduled for Sept. 18, and approved a joinder request for the men's trials, although defense attorneys did not agree, and told the court that based on evidence, Sanders would be more culpable than Wiley and that being in the same courtroom would be detrimental to Wiley's case.

Sanders' defense asked for the continuance last week as well, at that time hoping to hire a new attorney or go to trial pro se. Since then, Sanders has agreed not to attempt to go to trial without an attorney, and his family is raising funds to hire the South Bend-based defense attorney.

Christofeno told Sanders and Majerik that he's not thrilled with the continued requests and has no intention of continuing the trial, stating that parties have known for many months that the trial was expected to go forward Sept. 18.

"It is a disservice to the defendant and the families of the victims to let these murder cases go on and on," he said.

He refused the continuance and said instead that he would continue to have trial status conferences each Thursday until the jury trial date if needed.

The court scheduled another status conference for Sept. 7. The trial remains scheduled for Sept. 18.

JACK BYRER

A defendant's motion for a speedy trial may have backfired, but Jack Byrer told Judge Christofeno that he's grateful for the help he provided regardless.

Byrer, 32, is accused of burglary Aug. 9, 2022.

He was arrested in February but didn't have his initial hearing until Thursday. As a result, Byrer had filed, without an attorney, a motion for speedy trial. Byrer explained to the judge that he requested a speedy trial because he is currently incarcerated at Westville Correctional Facility with multiple charges out of multiple counties, and he was told that the best option to get in front of the judge was to file it. Christofeno was not amused.

According to the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office, a woman contacted them on Aug. 22, 2022, to report items taken from her personal storage unit at 68247 Ind. 15. Surveillance footage from New Paris Storage for Aug. 9 showed a man driving a U-Haul pick-up truck driving from the storage unit with multiple items in the bed of the truck.

A detective met with Byrer at Kosciusko County Jail, where he asked for a lawyer and allegedly acknowledged renting the truck and taking the items because he was high.

To accommodate the motion for a speedy trial, Byrer's trial is set for Oct. 2, with a trial status conference scheduled for Sept. 21, and several other court dates excused due to a lack of time.

CHRISTOPHER S. HALL

A pretrial conference took place for a man accused of stealing more than $10,000 worth of tools from EFP Corporation, 223 Middleton Run Road, Elkhart.

Christopher Hall, 57, has a jury trial scheduled for April 15.

Elkhart police say on April 26, 2022, an employee of the company found pry marks on the door to a maintenance garage and many missing tools. Detectives noted that some more valuable tools were not taken, but rather very specific ones including a grinder tool and two-ton hoist. The company identified Hall as a suspect because he'd been fired in April and was familiar with the location of the specific tools taken, court records show.

Hall allegedly pawned the tools within a week of the burglary, based on surveillance footage at the Elkhart pawn shop.

RAUDEL NUNEZ

A man accused of causing death while operating a motor vehicle had his trial date continued during Thursday's court proceedings.

Raudel Nunez, 23, is accused of causing the crash that resulted in the death of Pedro Batres Beltran. Officers responded to the call of a two-vehicle crash at U.S. 33 and C.R. 146 where they found a crash involving in GMC Sierra and a Chevrolet Cobalt. According to a witness' statement to police, the Sierra, driven by Nunez, had passed him on U.S. 33 going north in a no-passing zone at a high rate of speed while traveling up an incline and then crashed into the Cobalt traveling south.

Batres Beltran was pronounced dead at the scene. Nunez reportedly initially attempted to identify as Jose Salas but later confirmed his identity and submitted to a blood draw which allegedly showed THC and cocaine present in his system.

Nunez's trial was continued from Sept. 18 to May 6, with a trial status conference scheduled for April 11.

ALAURAEVE A. ALLEN

Alauraeve Allen, 24, met with Judge Christofeno for a pretrial conference on charges of murder and neglect of a dependent.

On July 7, at approximately 7:46 p.m., the Elkhart police and Elkhart fire departments were dispatched to an apartment at 324 Middlebury St., Elkhart, concerning a 6-month-old baby unconscious and not breathing. Upon their arrival, police and firefighters rendered aid to the baby.

The baby was transported to Elkhart General Hospital, and subsequently to South Bend Memorial Hospital, where she died July 8. Investigators of the Elkhart County Homicide Unit said they observed numerous visible injuries on the baby's body.

A forensic autopsy was performed on the baby at the Homer Stryker School of Medicine located at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. The cause of her death was ruled a homicide.

Allen initially advised investigators that she had left the baby in the care of friends July 8 and after returning home, the baby had vomited on her so she took a long bath. Upon finishing, she was told the baby was not breathing so she called 911.

Allen was interviewed again July 19, at which time she advised that she had been angry with the baby and shook her July 6 in their apartment on Middlebury Street, as well as having struck the baby and caused injuries prior to this on other occasions, court records show.

She was given a public defender in the case.

Allen's status conference is currently scheduled for Sept. 28, trial status conference for March 21, and jury trial for April 15.

CRISTIAN A. PARADA QUINTANILLA

A burglary suspect's psychological evaluations are still ongoing.

During Thursday's court proceedings, Cristian Parada Quintanilla's attorney Matthew Johnson told the court that Parada Quintanilla has a third competency evaluation coming up.

Parada Quintanilla of Elkhart is accused of a burglary that took place Jan. 14. According to a probable cause affidavit, officers responded to a call for an alarm at Smokes++ in the Market Centre plaza, 4024 Elkhart Road, Goshen, and arrived to find the front door glass broken. The officer who responded to the call reported seeing an individual bending over the back side of the sales counter and went out to his vehicle to keep watch and called for backup.

As reported in the affidavit, through a translator early on, Parada Quintanilla allegedly told officers that he'd broken into the business because he wanted to get deported and that he'd committed a previous burglary at the same location Nov. 19. Officers also said they found a large gray Adidas backpack on the floor and a smaller backpack on the counter both filled with products from the store and a Louisville Slugger baseball bat on the floor near the backpack. Items in the bags totaled $3,479.

Parada Quintanilla acknowledged a trial date of April 15 with a trial status conference of March 21.

SHONTERA R. WILSON AND BRETT N. BIRDSALL

A duo accused of robbery and battery by means of a deadly weapon were sentenced separately by plea agreement in court Thursday.

Shontera Wilson, 28, along with Brett Birdsall, 29, are accused in the March 9, 2022, stabbing of James Kephart in the 200 block of State Street in Elkhart.

According to a police affidavit, Kephart told police he'd been using illegal drugs with two individuals, a man and a woman, and a conversation of a sexual nature ensued before the three of them broke into a garage at 209 State St., Elkhart. There the man allegedly pulled a knife and demanded money from him. A scuffle ensued during which Kephart was stabbed and his wallet was stolen.

The two individuals left the scene and later on, police found two people matching the description provided "acting suspicious and looking back toward the location of the victim," according to court documents.

Both Birdsall and Wilson denied to officers any involvement in the robbery but admitted they'd been in contact with Kephart, with Wilson reportedly stating that he'd found the wallet on the ground and picked it up knowing nothing about the stabbing or robbery. Birdsall stated in the charging affidavit that he had been in the garage with Kephart, but that Kephart had attacked him with a knife instead and the wallet fell out of his pocket and was then taken.

Wilson will plead guilty to one count of possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, as well as one count of criminal trespassing and two counts of theft, both Class A misdemeanors, for previous cases she was on probation for at the time of the incident.

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 31.

Wilson pleaded guilty to possession of meth, criminal trespassing, and two counts of theft, and was sentenced to a total of two years and 360 days at the Indiana Department of Corrections with one year and 360 days suspended and one year and 360 days on reporting probation. The criminal trespassing charge was dropped.

Birdsall pleaded guilty to battery by means of a deadly weapon, a level 5 felony. He also asked to be put in the Recovery While Incarcerated Program at the Indiana Department of Corrections, which the judge obliged, but with concerned that he wouldn't have enough time to complete it. Birdsall was sentenced to five years at the Indiana Department of Corrections, with three years suspended and three years on reporting probation.

MATTHEW J. MALONE

An Elkhart teen was sentenced for an armed robbery charge and two counts of battery against a public safety officer.

According to a probable cause affidavit from Elkhart County deputies, Matthew Malone, 18, Elkhart, allegedly met a man at the New Paris Apartments, 18856 U.S. 6, New Paris, at 2 p.m. Dec. 12, from the Facebook Marketplace to purchase a 2016 orange Mustang 5.0 that he'd agreed to pay $35,000 for. Instead, the affidavit reads, when Malone came out of the apartment, the seller said Malone held him up using a black handgun and took the vehicle, allowing the seller's 8-year-old son to get out of the Mustang, before robbing him of his wallet, threatening him, and then taking off in the vehicle.

Malone is also accused of a series of battery charges against public safety officials at the Elkhart County Juvenile Detention Center March 9 and April 18.

Malone was sentenced to 12 years at the Indiana Department of Correction for armed robbery with four years suspended and four years on reporting probation; and two counts of battery against a public safety official each for five years with one year suspended and two years on reporting probation.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.