Judge sets firm trial date for teen charged in 4 killings that happened when he was 14
A teen who is believed to be the only juvenile in Hamilton County's history to be charged with murder in four separate killings has to decide by the end of the month whether to plead guilty.
All four killings happened when Mikeem Thomas was 14 years old.
Thomas, now 17, appeared Friday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, looking like a high school student, wearing a light gray polo shirt and glasses. He is being prosecuted as an adult but because of his age has been held at the county youth center for three years.
It was possible that Thomas could have pleaded guilty Friday, but one of his attorneys, Hal Arenstein, said in court that "with all the moving parts, there is a problem."
Family members of the four homicide victims were in the courtroom along with four Cincinnati police detectives who investigated the killings. Assistant Prosecutor Linda Scott said Thomas now has to decide by April 29 whether to plead guilty or go to trial.
After that date, Scott said, there will be "no more offers by the state, no more plea negotiations by the state."
Judge Robert Goering said if there isn't a plea, the trial would begin Sept. 9.
4 killings in 4 months
The first killing happened Oct. 25, 2020, in South Fairmount. Prosecutors say it began as a robbery that Thomas helped set up. It ended with one of Thomas' alleged accomplices being killed.
On Feb. 1, 2021, prosecutors say Thomas used Facebook to set up a meeting with two people in South Fairmount. According to prosecutors, he went to the location and fired multiple shots into a vehicle, killing 19-year-old Terrance North and wounding another person inside the vehicle.
Thomas also is accused of being one of three people who, on Feb. 16, 2021, were hired by Carl Godfrey to kill a man to whom Godfrey owed money. Thomas and two others, according to testimony at Godfrey's trial earlier this year, fired 21 shots into an SUV outside a Westwood apartment complex, wounding the intended target and killing 27-year-old Deontray Otis.
That night, according to court documents, Thomas texted Godfrey and asked, "When (is) the pay hitting for that?"
When Godfrey responded that the hit wasn't successful, Thomas texted, "What's next?"
Millvale shooting
Two days later, prosecutors say Thomas went with Godfrey to Millvale to retaliate for Godfrey's car being shot up the previous day.
At least 19 shots were fired, but prosecutors say said they didn't shoot their intended target. Instead, 30-year-old Donnell Steele was caught in the line of fire and killed by a single gunshot to his eye.
Thomas was in custody the following month. He is facing 27 counts including murder and attempted murder.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mikeem Thomas case: Trial date set for teen charged in 4 killings
