Jeremia Palmer Zachary Lawson
The preliminary hearing for two of three men arrested back in September of 2011 for the alleged kidnapping and beating of a Nickerson man took different directions Monday in District Court.
The state apparently presented both defense attorney’s of Jeremia Palmer and Zachary Lawson with a plea offer and one defendant took the offer and one didn’t.
The case against the two centers on 28-year-old Larry McVey reporting that he had been kidnapped, beaten and robbed by the three men back on September 8, 2011.
Palmer, was charged with aggravated kidnapping but as part of a plea agreement the state amended the complaint changing the charge to conspiracy to commit first degree murder. He also entered pleas to conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, aggravated intimidation of a victim, two counts of criminal threat, one from another case. Then a charge of aggravated battery from a third case was knocked down to simple battery.
Palmer had been charged with aggravated battery for an incident on July 22, 2011, when he allegedly battered Tyler Melton after he accused him of making some comment to his girlfriend. In the other case, he’s charged with criminal threat against Michael Young, which is reported to have occurred back on July 30, 2011.
Palmer will be sentenced by Judge Tim Chambers on March 29 and both sides will be able to argue disposition. They did agree to recommend concurrent sentences, with the exception of one of the criminal threat convictions. That count would run consecutive to all the other counts.
Co-defendant Zachary Lawson was also offered a similar plea, but declined the offer. He’s charged with aggravated kidnapping, attempted aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, criminal threat, possession of drugs, possession of meth and marijuana. His case was transferred to Judge Tim Chambers court for arraignment which should come next week. He also has a hold by the feds for a case in Arkansas.
The third defendant in the case, 28-year-old Jedrik Smith was sentenced to 196-months for two cases against him including the kidnapping case. Smith had been found guilty of aggravated kidnapping, conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, aggravated intimidation of victim or witness, criminal threat, possession of methamphetamine and criminal use of a weapon.
During the preliminary hearing, Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton told of what occurred with the kidnapping case.
McVey was in his home when Palmer and Smith came to his home and forced him to go with them. A third man was waiting in the vehicle and was apparently brought along to operate a interlock device in the vehicle. The victim was taken to where Lawson lived at the time, forced into a detached garage. Stanton says they believed McVey was selling drugs in Nickerson which they considered their territory. They had laid plastic on the floor of the garage to collect any blood and began choking and beating the victim until he was on the ground. They then struck him with a sledgehammer and that back end of an ax. The unidentified man who had worked the interlock device in the vehicle apparently stepped in to rescue McVey. Stanton says Smith at one point threatened to cut the victims eye out.
They also threatened the victim saying if he called anyone, they would kill him.
Law enforcement also found some of the victims blood on the plastic in the garage leading to the arrest of three in the case.