Fourth KSU homicide suspect pleads not guilty
Police and investigators on the scene at the Ryan Place apartment complex on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, following the shooting death of a Kent State freshman. The fourth suspect in the homicide, 17-year-old Anton Planicka, has pleaded not guilty to six felony charges.
The fourth suspect in the Feb. 7 homicide of a Kent State freshman entered a plea of not guilty earlier this week to six first-degree felonies.
Medina resident Anton Planicka, 17, appeared in front Judge Laurie Pittman at the Portage County Common Pleas Court Monday morning.
Planicka’s not guilty plea joins the other three suspects’—Marquis C.T. Grier, 17, Ty A. Kremling, 17, and Damantae D. Graham, 19—earlier pleas.
Along with the other three suspects, Planicka has been charged with one count each of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and three counts of kidnapping, according to court records.
The charges come following the Feb. 7 shooting death of 18-year-old Nick Massa, a resident of Westlake, in a third-floor apartment at Ryan Place in Kent on E. Main Street.
All suspects are being tried as adults in the court system.
A pre-trial hearing has been set for Nov. 16, with a jury trial scheduled for Nov. 22. Pittman set a $2 million bail for Planicka on Tuesday.
Graham will be the next of the suspects to appear in court, on July 15, for a pre-trial hearing.
Alex Delaney-Gesing is the editor of The Summer Kent Stater, contact her at [email protected].