Two plead guilty in shooting that killed Maumee student

1/8/2018
BY JENNIFER FEEHAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
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    Andrew Foster-Martin appears in Lucas County Common Pleas Court Monday. Foster Martin fired the shots that left one youth dead and another wounded, the prosecutor said.

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  • A Toledo man admitted Monday that he fired two shots — shots that would pierce the trunk of a fleeing car and travel through the backseat, through the front seat, and into the backs of two young men, killing one and paralyzing the other.

    Andrew Foster-Martin, 18, of the 1600 block of Fernwood Avenue pleaded guilty in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, and aggravated robbery, each with firearm specifications, for the Feb. 22 incident that left Collin Doyle, 17, dead and Armond Batey, 16, wounded.

    The Doyle youth was a senior at Maumee High School at the time, while young Batey was attending Springfield High School.

     RELATED: 17-year-old Maumee student dies after West Toledo shooting | Co-defendant identifies shooter in death of Maumee teen

    Also Monday, co-defendant Jermonte Anderson, 20, of Alexis Road pleaded guilty to complicity to involuntary manslaughter and complicity to felonious assault. He was driving the car Foster-Martin and others were traveling in that night.

    “It was a drug transaction gone awry,” said Michael Loisel, deputy chief of the criminal division of the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office.

    The Doyle and Batey youths allegedly planned to buy marijuana from Tyreese Davis that night. Davis testified at a previous court hearing that Foster-Martin had a gun and planned to rob the young men when they met up at Hillcrest and Homewood avenues in West Toledo.

    “There are different versions of what transpired next,” Mr. Loisel said after the hearing. “However, one thing is for certain: Collin Doyle drove off and, as he did so, Andrew Foster-Martin fired two rounds at the vehicle. One round struck Collin Doyle, killing him, and the other round struck Armond Batey, ultimately paralyzing him.”

    Two unnamed individuals who had been in young Doyle's car — and had left the car prior to the shooting — moved the two victims to the backseat. They drove to a parking lot at Hazelhurst and Sylvania avenues, where they called 911.

    The Davis youth, who was 17 at the time, previously admitted to aggravated robbery and complicity to murder in Lucas County Juvenile Court. He was committed to the Ohio Department of Youth Services until age 21 by Judge Denise Navarre Cubbon in May.

    Foster-Martin, who also was 17 at the time, was certified to stand trial as an adult. Although the charges he pleaded guilty to carry a maximum possible sentence of 39 years, he is to receive an agreed-upon sentence of 25 years in prison at his sentencing Feb. 9. Anderson faces a maximum term of 19 years.

    Judge Ian English asked both of the young men why they were pleading guilty, and both said because they were guilty. The judge told Foster-Martin that he was all but giving up his rights to appeal because of the agreed-upon sentence.

    “You understand that it's 25 years in the state penitentiary?” Judge English asked him.

    “Yes, sir,” Foster-Martin replied.

    A third co-defendant, Travis Durden, 33, of the 1500 block of Berdan Avenue appeared briefly in court, where Judge English scheduled a final pretrial hearing in his case for Friday. Durden, the brother of Tyreese Davis, was allegedly at the scene that night too.

    Contact Jennifer Feehan at jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.