A 31-year-old Centralia man returned from a federal prison in New Jersey to face first-degree murder charges in connection with the 2015 shooting death of then 24-year-old Dustin Rhynes has entered a not guilty plea and demanded a jury trial.
Judge Mark Stedelin set the jury trial for Ricky Norwood for May 31st. His next pre-trial is scheduled for May 11th.
Norwood will not have a preliminary hearing since he was indicted on the charge by a Marion County Grand Jury.
He appeared for the first time with his public defender during the Wednesday court appearance. Norwood remains in the Marion County Jail in lieu of $1-million bond.
Rynes was found dead in an alley on Centralia’s northeast side where he had apparently died a few hours earlier as a result of a gunshot wound. The charge state’s that Norwood or a person for whose conduct he is legally accountable and without legal justification shot Dustin Rhynes in the body with a firearm knowing such acts created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to Rhynes or another and thereby caused his death.
Marion County State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth earlier told WJBD-WSIQ news that the charges were filed after additional witnesses came forward with information on the shooting.
