Teens appear in court over death of 23-year-old Toledo man
8/18/2017
Thomas Lehman, 23, was a 2012 Whitmer High graduate of West Toledo and working as a ceramic tile setter. He died Aug. 9 of his injuries following an assault. The incident is being investigated as a homicide, police said.
OBJECTTwo teens charged in the death of a 23-year-old West Toledo man appeared Friday in Lucas County Juvenile Court.
Roberto Almaguer, and Jordan Collins, both 16 and students at Whitmer High School, appeared for detention hearings Friday morning before Magistrate William Hutcheson on involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges. They are accused of severely beating Thomas Lehman, 23, in the 5000 block of Douglas Road on Aug. 5.
Mr. Lehman died Aug. 9 as a result of his injuries, according to Toledo police.
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The Almaguer youth was already being held on a felonious assault charge, but the additional manslaughter charges were filed Thursday. The Collins boy was also charged Thursday.
Both boys entered denials to the new charges and were ordered to remain incarcerated at the Lucas County juvenile detention center.
No family members were in court for either teen.
The Almaguer youth said he wasn’t aware of Friday’s hearing, and the boy told the magistrate he wasn’t sure his family had enough notification to attend the hearing. The Blade was unable to reach the boy’s family.
“If they did know, they would be here,” the boy said.
Family for the Collins youth were given an incorrect time, and were contacted by the court about the mistake before his hearing. His mother, Kara Tatro, declined to comment to The Blade when reached by phone.
Lori Olender, assistant prosecutor, said afterward authorities are continuing to investigate the case. While it has been described as a road rage case, she said she wouldn’t call it that. The parties exchanged words at a stop light, but the disagreement did not appear to stem from a traffic incident.
“I don’t know what to call it,” she said.
As the investigation stands now, Ms. Olender said the prosecution does not expect to seek certification for adult court.
“We don’t have an ethical argument to argue they’ve exhausted all systems in the juvenile court,” she said.
Both teens will have a pretrial hearing in juvenile court Tuesday.
Contact Allison Reamer at areamer@theblade.com, 419-724-6506 or on Twitter @AllisonRBlade. Contact Alexandra Mester amester@theblade.com, 419-724-6066 or on Twitter @AlexMesterBlade.