Dr. Laura Fujimura said Gregory “changes his behavior to suit his best needs at a given time.”
That included Gregory seeking to quit medication during his murder trial, making it is easier for him “to cry on the stand,” the juvenile court psychologist said.
Gregory testified last year he fired a shot that authorities said killed Ronnie Bowers in 2016.
He was convicted by a jury in adult court of a lesser charge, sending the case back to juvenile court.
Fujimura’s testimony is part of a hearing to see if Gregory will spend years in prison or it his case will stay in juvenile court.
INITIAL REPORT:
At two-day court hearing this week is expected to play a large role in deciding if a Kettering teen convicted in the killing of a Fairmont High School student spends years in prison or is set free on his 21st birthday.
The fate of Kylen Gregory, 19, in the 2016 shooting death of Ronnie Bowers will be determined Monday and Tuesday after a Montgomery County Juvenile Court hearing, which is expected to include the reports and testimony of two psychologists, and other witnesses.
The hearing to see if Gregory is amenable to juvenile rehabilitation comes after a jury in November found him guilty of reckless homicide – and not murder, a charge which helped send the case to adult court.
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For this week’s hearing, Judge Anthony Capizzi ordered the reports from psychologists Dr. David Daniels and Dr. Laura Fujimura to be filed last month, court records show. More than two years ago, Fujimura testified Gregory would not be amenable to youth treatment.
She called him “manipulative” and “aggressive,” and suggested that his willingness to seek help is not genuine.
The state “anticipates that testimony and exhibits presented at the hearing will support a finding that defendant is not amenable to treatment, that there is insufficient time to rehabilitate the defendant before his 21st birthday,” according a recent filing from prosecutors, “and that for the safety of the community, defendant must be bound over to adult court.”
Attorneys for Gregory did not file documents urging the case to stay in juvenile court. However, they have called the fatal shooting of Bowers “a horribly unfortunate” experience caused by their client, who they said was a novice with handguns and only seeking scare Bowers and three others in car fleeing a Willowdale Avenue confrontation.
EARLIER: Doctors paint different pictures of accused Kettering teen killer
At his trial, Gregory testified he – without provocation from Bowers, called an “innocent bystander” - aimed a loaded gun and fired at the victim’s car on Sept. 4, 2016, when both were 16 and did not know each other.
Authorities said the shot hit Bowers, seated in the driver’s seat, in the head and two days later he died from the wound in what was ruled a homicide.
In adult court, Gregory was indicted on two counts of murder, five counts of felonious assault and other charges. The jury deadlocked on the felonious assault counts. Facing a retrial on those charges, Gregory this spring pleaded guilty in a deal that came with a lighter sentence than he would have faced if convicted by a jury.
RELATED: ‘It felt like Ronnie died all over again:’ Kettering shooting victim’s mother speaks out on verdict
Because Gregory was not convicted of murder, the case was returned to juvenile court. If the case stays there, Gregory will remain in juvenile detention – where he has been since hours after the shooting – until March 2021.
Depending on the courts ruling, Gregory’s case could return to adult court, where Judge Dennis Langer sentenced him to 11 years in prison minus time already served.
Langer said Gregory faced anywhere from six to 41 years in prison. The prosecution sought no less than 35 years.
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