Tessa George said Dean and two other teens drove with Mason Trudics, who later died from his wounds, to confront the unnamed shooter in a dispute about Kayla Carmack, also charged in the case.
“The whole thing started around that,” George said.
Along with Dean, those facing aggravated robbery and murder charges are Carmack, 17; Dakota Cox, 18; and Jacob Hicks, 16.
MORE: Lawyer says man charged in fatal shooting wasn’t there
On a recording of the 911 call in the case, Dean pleaded with Carmack’s mother for help as Trudics lay outside the Carmack home on Oregonia Road, outside Lebanon.
Also after Monday’s emergency hearing in Warren County Juvenile Court., Dean’s uncle said Dean should be released to his grandmother.
“Medically, he’s going to be messed up for a while. He needs medical attention around the clock,” his uncle, Michael George, said. “He’s not a threat to anybody in the community.”
In the hearing, Judge Joe Kirby ruled Dean, 16, of Washington Twp., Montgomery County, needed to remain in detention.
“I have to err on the side of caution,” Kirby said.
Kirby and Assistant Prosecutor Julie Kraft indicated Dean had made statements he was bent on getting out of detention.
“This is very troublesome to the court,” Kirby said.
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Dean did did not appear Monday morning for the hearing, due to his medical condition. Kirby acknowledged Dean still had tubes into his body as part of his medical treatment.
Dean lost a kidney and his liver was damaged by a gunshot below in his chest, according to Tessa George.
After his release from Miami Valley Hospital, Dean was the fourth person arrested in connection with the shooting death of Trudics, 18, of Centerville.
The target of the alleged attempted robbery fired shots at those involved, investigators have said, and is not charged.
Also Monday, Warren County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Barry Riley responded to questions about whether they were still looking for another suspect.
“I can confirm the investigation is still on-going. We do feel confident we have identified all parties involved in the crime, and if we have an uncharged suspect, we would be required to withhold that information,” he said in an email.
Riley declined to comment on whether a romantic dispute contributed to the incident.
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After the hearing, Dean’s relatives said he was an intelligent, tech-savvy boy raised by his grandmother. The grandmother, Donna George, said Dean’s mother misled her son about who was the child’s father and put another man’s last name on the birth certificate.
Several relatives indicated his mother was herself incarcerated. Michael George said the father, his brother, saw Dean periodically but that Dean had lived with the grandmother for about 10 years.
“His parents are not in the picture,” George said. “Hopefully he doesn’t get convicted as an adult. That will ruin his life.”
Prosecutors were seeking to try all three juveniles charged in the case as adults. Hearings scheduled this week to transfer the cases to adult court were delayed, but are expected to be rescheduled.
Dean, who had been undergoing treatment at Miami Valley Hospital, was taken into detention Jan. 4 and appeared in court for the first time last Monday to determine whether he should be held, like the other three charged in the case, pending further hearings.
“What he did was wrong. He knows that,” Michael George said after the second detention hearing Monday.
George described Dean as “a follower.”
“I don’t think he understands a lot of the seriousness of what this crime is,” he said. “He’s a good kid. He made a bad choice.”
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