A senseless tragedy struck Western Michigan University last week when 19-year-old student Jacob Jones was shot and killed during a robbery attempt. And in a somewhat bizarre turn of events, a member of the Broncos’ basketball team has now been arrested and charged in relation to the killing.
According to Gary Parrish of CBS Sports, prosecutors for Kalamazoo County court say red-shirt freshmen Joeviair Kennedy was expected to be arraigned and charged with murder and armed robbery on Monday.
Kennedy has since been suspended from the university and all of his information erased from the athletic department’s website. Here’s the statement Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins gave to MLive.com following his team’s win against James Madison over the weekend:
“It’s a devastating loss for our university,” Hawkins said in his postgame press conference. “It’s a devastating tragedy for everybody involved. Lives were changed forever. We’re very, very respectful of that, and we’re very shook by the whole thing.”
Police say the incident occurred at an apartment off-campus where other people were apparently present, during which Kennedy allegedly shot and killed Jones in an attempt to rob him of his phone and money. Kennedy had appeared in eight games for the Broncos this season and was averaging 3.1 points in 7.4 minutes of action.
