news-record.com

ASHEBORO - Meredith Kandies got an early Christmas present Tuesday.

A Randolph County judge dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against the 16-year-old high school student in connection with the Dec. 12 shooting death of Jeremy McMillan.

District Court Judge William Neely ruled during a probable-cause hearing that prosecutors didn't present enough evidence to show Kandies killed McMillan, her 16-year-old boyfriend, on purpose.

The gun, according to testimony, went off by accident. The shooting at an Asheboro elementary school followed a fracas that sounded like something straight out of "West Side Story.''

McMillan had proposed to Kandies, according to testimony Tuesday, and was wearing her ring and necklace.

"She's pretty much in shock,'' Kandies' attorney Jonathan Megerian said following the 45-minute hearing. "She's absolutely grief-stricken, and that's about all I can get into. She was 16, in love with this guy. It is very, very sad.''

Kandies and her family declined to comment following the hearing.

McMillan's death came after a fight for the girl's affection. According to the statements of five eyewitnesses presented in a Randolph County courtroom, here's what happened:

McMillan had called Adam Lineberry repeatedly on his cell phone, cursing him and calling him out for what witnesses called "Fight 101.''

The fight took place on an athletic field at Guy B. Teachey Elementary. McMillan brought the gun to the fight, handed it to Kandies and began fighting. The fight lasted two minutes. McMillan lost.

When Lineberry let him up, Asheboro police Det. Debra McKenzie said witnesses told police McMillan ran to Kandies and told her, "Give me the gun!''

She didn't. The gun discharged, and McMillan was shot in the stomach. Witnesses told police they heard McMillan yell an expletive three times before he crumpled on the ground at Kandies' feet.

The gun had been stolen in a break-in earlier that day and was found the next day 60 feet from where the fight took place. The shell was still in the chamber - evidence that showed someone had a tight grip on the barrel of the gun.

Kandies also has been charged with possession of a handgun by a minor, possession of a weapon on educational property and felony discharge of a weapon on educational property.

A hearing will be held in January to assess those charges. But the charge of involuntary manslaughter - a felony that carries a maximum prison term of 10 years - has been dismissed.

Prosecutors could bring the charge back up in front of a Randolph County grand jury. But Megerian says that is "unlikely'' because grand jurors would hear the same evidence Neely weighed Tuesday.

"It's not involuntary manslaughter,'' he said. "But it's a tragedy for everyone involved.''

Contact Jeri Rowe at jeri.rowe@news-record.com or 373-7374.