Gregory, 19, in April pleaded guilty to five lesser felonious assault charges than he would have been retried on for fatally shooting the 16-year-old Bowers — called by police “an innocent bystander” — in what was Kettering’s first gun-related homicide since 2007.
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“Nothing can be done to bring Ronnie back to his friends and family, but a substantial prison sentence would provide justice for those whose lives are empty now that Ronnie was taken from them so gruesomely,” Assistant Prosecutor Lynda Dodd stated in a sentencing recommendation.
A jury in November convicted Gregory of reckless homicide and discharging a firearm on or near a prohibited premise in what Dodd called “a senseless killing.” The jury was deadlocked on murder charges and five felonious assault charges.
Gregory’s guilty pleas to lesser felonious assault charges came shortly before he was scheduled to be retried May 13.
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Gregory is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday. Judge Dennis Langer said at Gregory’s plea hearing his punishment could range could range from six to 44 years in prison.
Gregory’s attorneys did not recommended a specific sentence in their court filing.
After the sentencing, that ruling will be stayed and the case be returned to juvenile court because Gregory was not convicted of murder – the charge that caused the transfer of the case to adult court, Langer has said.
Gregory testified in November that he fired a shot a Bowers’ car as the victim and three others sought to flee a dispute on Willowdale Avenue the night of Sept. 4, 2016.
Authorities said Bowers died two days later from a gunshot wound he suffered that night.
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