Bogue Flats Shooting Update: Preliminary Exam Set for Ionia Men Charged with Labor Day Shooting of

Four men from Ionia will face a Preliminary Exam in Ionia’s 64-A District Court on November 14th to determine which of them, if any, will be bound over for a trial in Ionia-Montcalm 8th Circuit Court. The four are accused of Assault with Intent to Commit Murder in the September 2nd shooting of Kaiden Claflin at Portland’s Bogue Flats Park.

In a District Court motion yesterday, Ionia County Prosecutor Kyle Butler requested that the four defendants: Mason Pfeiffer, 21;Ricardo Martinez-Cruz, 21; Samuel Johnson, 17; and Diego Bowerman, 16 all be joined together for a Preliminary Exam in order to reduce duplicate processes and witnesses that would occur if they were each to have a separate Preliminary Exam. Judge Raymond Voet granted Butler’s motion.

All four defendants, who each have their own attorney, will have a joint Preliminary Exam on November 14th. However, each will receive an individual determination from District Court Judge Voet on whether there is probable cause for their individual case to be bound over for trial in Circuit Court.

Samuel Johnson and Mason Pfeiffer have been released from jail on cash bonds. Ricardo Martinez-Cruz remains in jail on a $50,00 bond. Diego Bowerman, who has been waived to adult court due to the seriousness of the charges, is currently residing in a juvenile detention facility on a $75,000 bond.