DECATUR — Jayden M. Michniewicz was drinking tequila with a 16-year-old boy in his Decatur bedroom when the child was fatally wounded, shot after the gun fired while it was being handed over to him, a police affidavit says.
Michniewicz’s 15-year-old brother is quoted as telling detectives he was also present in the room in the early hours of Saturday and heard the semi-automatic .380 pistol go off.
“...He heard a single gunshot and (said) that ‘Jayden was freaking out,’” said the affidavit, signed by Decatur Police Department Detective Jason Danner.
The victim, whose identity was released Monday, was named as Tremayne A.L. Bass. He was pronounced dead at 3:20 a.m. Saturday in the emergency room of Decatur Memorial Hospital after suffering a gunshot to the chest.
Jayden Michniewicz, 18, is quoted as telling police he was “previously given” the silver-colored weapon from a source not identified in the affidavit.
“Mr. Michniewicz advised Mr. Bass wanted to see the gun,” said Danner. “Mr. Michniewicz said he retrieved the gun from a box near his bed and began to hand it to Mr. Bass. Mr. Michniewicz said Mr. Bass grabbed the gun and it went off and fired one round into the chest area of Mr. Bass.
“Mr. Michniewicz stated he lifted Mr. Bass’s shirt and located one single wound to the upper chest. Mr. Michniewicz said he then called emergency services and attempted life-saving measures until police and EMS arrived.”
Danner said the defendant didn’t try to hide what had happened and made “statements concerning being responsible for shooting Mr. Bass.”
Michniewicz appeared Monday in Macon County Circuit Court and was arraigned on a single charge of involuntary manslaughter. Judge Lindsey Shelton was told he had no financial resources and agreed to appoint a lawyer from the public defender’s office to represent him.
And, to audible sighs from the public gallery, she also agreed to grant the defendant pretrial release. The court hearing was around 2 p.m. and by 3:37 p.m. Macon County Jail records show he had been released from custody.
Michniewicz is due back in court for a preliminary hearing April 24 when he will enter a plea to the charge against him.
2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review
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Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid