- Posted December 18, 2014
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Man ordered to stand trial in teen's slaying
ROMEO (AP) - A 32-year-old man will stand trial in the killing of a 14-year-old girl as she walked her dog along a northern Macomb County recreation trail.
Romeo District Judge Denis LeDuc on Tuesday determined there was enough evidence to move the case against James VanCallis forward.
VanCallis is charged with first-degree murder and assault with intent to rape.
Authorities say he hit April Millsap with a motorcycle helmet and stomped on her in Armada near the popular trail on July 24. They say the man from St. Clair County's Wales Township was planning to rape her but a witness interrupted him.
Witnesses testified Monday in VanCallis' preliminary examination that they saw him on the trail near Millsap the day she was killed.
Former live-in girlfriend Crystal Stadler testified Tuesday that she saw VanCallis cleaning his shoes with sanitizer early in the morning on July 25. She said he told her to lie to investigators about the type of shoes he was wearing the day before.
"He said he messed up and he needs me to stand by his side," Stadler testified. The couple has a 3-year-old son.
VanCallis will be arraigned Dec. 29 in circuit court.
He was sentenced last month to a year in jail in a separate drug case. He and his father earlier pleaded guilty to manufacturing marijuana.
Published: Thu, Dec 18, 2014
headlines Oakland County
- Associations gather for Spring Fling
- Law school’s team wins William and Mary Colonial Cup Competition
- Supreme Court makes it easier to sue for job discrimination over forced transfers
- Oakland County Physician bound over on insurance fraud charges
- Innocence Project leaders present at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Spring Symposium
headlines National
- Incarceration series includes female inmates but doesn’t tell full story
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Former DOJ official who alleged election fraud violated at least one ethics rule, ethics committee says
- Winston & Strawn will provide reduced-cost legal services for routine tasks under Winston Legal Solutions umbrella
- Should Justice Sotomayor retire? Chemerinsky, White House haven’t joined calls for her to step down
- Which BigLaw firms are increasing lateral associate hiring the most? One made legal headlines last year