Alexa Stakely homicide: Judge sets bond for 19-year-old after 3 suspects arrested, charged
All three teenagers charged in connection to the death of a 29-year-old Pickerington woman who died while attempting to stop her vehicle from being stolen with her child inside will remain in custody after their first court appearances Thursday.
The three suspects, 19-year-old Gerald Dowling and two 16-year-olds, have all been charged with murder in the July 11 death of Alexa Stakely.
The two 16-year-olds are charged in Franklin County Juvenile Court and will be tried as adults if a judge finds probable cause to believe they committed the crime. The Dispatch is not naming the younger teens at this time because they have not been charged as adults.
In the first court hearing for the juveniles on Thursday afternoon, Magistrate Woodrow Hudson said the younger teens will be held in the county's Juvenile Intervention Center pending another hearing scheduled for Monday.
The only adult among the three suspects, 19-year-old Gerald Dowling, had his first appearance Thursday morning in Franklin County Municipal Court. Judge Bill Hedrick set Dowling's bond at $10 million.
Attorneys for the two 16-year-olds said neither boy has any criminal history or even speeding tickets on their records. Both attend Canal Winchester High School, including one of the boys who has played football for the school.
One of the 16-year-old boys reportedly told Columbus police detectives he was the person behind the wheel of Alexa Stakely's Honda CRV when it struck her. That boy surrendered to police Wednesday afternoon.
Columbus police said the first 16-year-old who came forward told one of his parents he was involved in Stakely's death, and his parents immediately contacted police and accompanied him to surrender himself at police headquarters Downtown.
The teen agreed to an interview with detectives, police said. He revealed that he and two other acquaintances were looking for a vehicle to steal around 1:30 a.m. July 11 when they came across Stakely's running Honda in the 6300 block of Blue Knoll Drive at the White Oak Park Condominiums, according to police.
The other 16-year-old was taken into custody later that afternoon.
Dowling, of the Northwest Side, turned himself in later in the evening.
Stakely killed while trying to prevent vehicle from being stolen
Stakely, a single mother who was a speech-language pathologist for Winchester Trail Elementary School in the Canal Winchester Local Schools, also had a part-time job as a waitress to support her son. She was picking her son up after a waitressing shift, police said.
Stakely brought the sleeping boy out to her Honda CRV, which she left running, while she met the babysitter in the doorway to get the boy's belongings, police said.
As Stakely began to return to her vehicle, she saw someone inside beginning to back out onto the street. Stakely ran out toward the Honda and was heard screaming for her child and telling the driver to stop, police said.
As his two friends watched, the 16-year-old told detectives he got into Stakely's vehicle and was about to drive off when Stakely ran out to stop him. Police said the teen told detectives that he panicked, and as he was driving off, he struck Stakely with her vehicle.
Police said Stakely was knocked to the pavement, suffering a "fatal wound" to her head. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
The 16-year-old abandoned the Honda within the same complex. Witnesses saw two males running north, past where Stakely was on the ground, jumping a fence and escaping into a neighboring apartment complex, police said. The three regrouped a short time later on foot, police said.
Stakely's son was recovered uninjured and told police he slept through the attempted carjacking.
According to police, the second juvenile admitted to detectives that he was present during the attempted theft of Stakely's vehicle.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Alexa Stakely carjacking, homicide suspects all in police custody
