One of the two teenagers charged as adults for murdering a man during an attempted robbery near Toledo on May 3 has pleaded guilty to several charges in Lewis County Superior Court.
Taylor K. Lenihan, 16, of Redding, California, pleaded guilty Monday morning to one count each of first-degree attempted robbery, second-degree accomplice liability unlawful possession of a firearm and accomplice liability possession of a stolen firearm.
Two of Lenihan’s charges — accomplice liability first-degree murder and accomplice liability possession of a stolen vehicle — have been dismissed by a Lewis County Superior Court judge.
Lenihan initially entered not guilty pleas to all charges alongside her co-defendant, Quinton M. Ramey, 17, of Redding, California, on Thursday, May 11, but Lenihan had a change of plea hearing in Lewis County Superior Court at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 15.
Ramey did not have a change of plea hearing scheduled as of Monday afternoon.
Lenihan will be held without bail at the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center until her sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for 8:40 a.m. on Thursday, June 15.
Trial for Ramey, who is being held at the Lewis County Jail on $5 million bail, is scheduled to begin July 3. A trial confirmation hearing is scheduled for June 29.
The case for the third teenager arrested as a suspect in the case, a 15-year-old male, is being handled in Lewis County Juvenile Court. Those records are protected under state law and are not publicly available.
The three suspects were arrested in Sumner and were transferred to Lewis County on Thursday, May 4, after Sumner law enforcement recognized the juveniles’ vehicle as stolen and connected it to the Toledo homicide, which occurred just after 8:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 3.
Surveillance footage of the Shell station in Toledo reportedly shows the victim, 30-year-old Navjot Singh, restocking shelves when, at approximately 8:46 p.m. on May 3, two individuals wearing masks and gloves entered the store. One individual was reportedly wearing a light-colored T-shirt and holding “a long gun with an extended magazine,” while the other was wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt and holding “a bag and flex-cuffs,” according to court documents.
The individual holding the gun reportedly pointed the gun at Singh, who is then seen walking toward the cash register.
Singh then reportedly “turns his back towards the gunman and starts to struggle over the firearm,” according to court documents.
The struggle moved offscreen, but the surveillance camera reportedly captured footage of the individual in the hoodie “point(ing) something towards the struggle” before both individuals ran out of the store, got into a white Dodge truck with a temporary license plate and camping gear in the bed and then drove off.
At about 8:49 p.m. on Wednesday, May 3, Lewis County 911 received a call from a passerby indicating they saw two masked individuals running out of a store in the 100 block of Mulford Road.
A deputy with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office arrived at 9:11 p.m., found Singh was “down, not breathing” and requested medical aid, which declared Singh deceased at 9:27 p.m. on May 3, according to court documents.
The Lewis County Coroner’s Office has determined Singh’s cause of death was a shotgun wound to the torso and his manner of death was homicide, according to Coroner Warren McLeod.
Singh’s family set up a fundraiser on May 10 to cover costs associated with his death.
The fundraiser, which is accessible at https://gofund.me/d07f9aa1, had raised $1,500 as of Monday afternoon.
