COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A suspect charged in connection with the August 2016 death of a Bronson man will go on trial in Branch County Circuit Court.
The case of 33-year-old Ricky Ledale Johnson of Jonesville was bound over Wednesday following a nearly three hour District Court preliminary examination.
Johnson claims he innocent after he was charged with Failure to Stop at the Scene of an Accident-When at Fault-Resulting in Death. He is also facing a sentencing enhancement for being an Habitual Offender-third offense.
According to Branch County court documents, Johnson was the driver of a convertible that drove off a dock and into the water at the Cary Lake Public Access site during the wee hours of August 29, 2016.
43-year-old Jonathan Arnold McGuire lost his life in the incident.
Court documents also indicate that Johnson did not report the accident to the Sheriff’s office until about 8:30am that morning.
McGuire’s body was found by divers a couple of hours later in the upside down convertible.
The prosecution called six witnesses to the stand during Wednesday’s hearing. Doctor Stephen Cohle, who performed the autopsy at Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids, said McGuire was alive when the car entered the water and was not on the verge of a drug overdose.
Eyewitness Gordon Johns, who saw the convertible at a gas station in Coldwater before it headed west on U.S. 12, was also among those called to the stand.
Johnson is scheduled to appear for a Branch County Circuit Court arraignment on November 13th. He is being held on a $200,000 bond.
