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| Timothy Eugene Moore Shandon Ray Groom Shane Lamar Evans |
Timothy Eugene Moore, 34, of Toledo, OH, Shandon Ray Groom, 28, also of Toledo, OH, and Shane Lamar Evans, 31, of Sumpter Township were bound over for trial last Thursday by 34th District Court Judge Tina Brooks Green.
Moore is charged with one count each of first degree murder, felony murder, home invasion first degree, and four counts of felony firearm. Groom was bound over on one count each of first degree murder, felony murder, home invasion first degree, and three counts of felony firearm.
Evans is charged with one count each of felony murder and home invasion first degree. Their arraignments will take place today, April 1, in Third Circuit Court.
Prosecutors allege that the three men were trying to rob the victim's neighbor in the duplex she rented on Hull Road in Van Buren Township. Ms. Covington, a local singer, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head. Her body was bound with holiday lights, investigators said.
According to court testimony, Covington's duplex neighbor was a licensed caregiver who kept marijuana in the duplex. The home had been burglarized prior to Covington's murder and marijuana had been stolen from the home at that time, officials said.
The neighbor was not at home at the time of Ms. Covington's death but was attending an annual music festival they usually attended together. Ms. Covington, a well-known vocalist in the area, had declined to attend the festival as she had just started at a new job. Investigators said the crime was timed by the suspects believing that both the victim and the neighbor would be absent and the duplex vacant.
Evans, who occasionally did yard work at the home, told police that the three suspects were together and wanted marijuana.
Two of the three are brothers and the third is a cousin.
Evans told police he drove by the home and pointed out which side of the duplex would have the drugs while Moore, Groom, and another person followed in another vehicle. Moore and Groom are accused of breaking into Ms. Covington's side of the home while she was watching a movie on TV.
The Van Buren Police Department had been investigating the murder prior to the Michigan State Police investigation which began in August 2020.
Evans and Moore were arrested last November and Groom was taken into custody in December.
