Western Michigan’s Joeviair Kennedy Charged in Student’s Murder

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Prosecutors have filed murder and armed robbery charges against a Western Michigan University basketball player in the killing of a fellow student last week.

Joeviair Kennedy was due to be arraigned Monday in a Kalamazoo County court in Thursday’s fatal shooting of 19-year-old Jacob Jones in an off-campus apartment. Prosecutors don’t know if the 20-year-old Muskegon man has an attorney yet.

Authorities allege that Kennedy killed Jones during a robbery of a phone and money. Others were present.

The school suspended Kennedy on Friday and he’s been scrubbed from the team’s website. He was in his second year on the team and was averaging more than 7 minutes per game in eight appearances this season.

Coach Steve Hawkins says the fatal shooting is a “devastating tragedy for everybody involved.”

Photo: Mic Smith/AP

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Written by Adam Zagoria

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Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.