SKOWHEGAN — A St. Albans man who pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in the April 2016 shooting death of his uncle and later pleaded insanity related to the charge is ready to change his plea again — this time to guilty.
Jeremy G. Erving, 26, is scheduled to appear at 1 p.m. Feb. 7 in Somerset County Superior Court for what is called a Rule 11 hearing, said Skowhegan attorney Philip Mohlar, one of two lawyers appointed to represent Erving.
At a Rule 11 hearing, a defendant is allowed to enter a guilty or no-contest plea after a judge asks a series of questions designed to ensure that the defendant is entering the plea willingly and is waiving his right to a trial voluntarily.
Jeremy Erving is accused of shooting Randy Erving, who was 53 and also of St. Albans, in the head on April 7, 2016, after a day of heavy drinking.
Police stopped Jeremy Erving at 1 a.m. the next morning in Randy Irving’s truck in the Penobscot County town of Dexter on suspicion of operating under the influence, according to an affidavit by Detective Hugh Landry, of the Maine State Police.
An Intoxilyzer test later determined that the younger Erving’s blood-alcohol level was 0.24 — three times the legal limit for driving.
Also in the truck was a loaded .30-30 rifle that Erving later said he had stolen from the home of another relative, and Randy Erving’s dog, according to police. When his girlfriend and her father went to the Penobscot County Jail to bail him out, Erving told them he had shot his uncle in the back of the head and he didn’t know why he did it, according to the police affidavit.
They all went to the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, where Jeremy Erving repeated his story, saying he didn’t remember much.
“I asked, ‘So you remember you shot him?’” Landry wrote in the affidavit, “and Jeremy stated, ‘Well …’ and stated he was the only one there, it was pretty obvious.”
Randy Erving’s body was found in the bedroom of his McNally Road home.
Assistant Attorney General Bud Ellis confirmed the date of the plea hearing but declined to comment further this week.
Jeremy Erving has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and not criminally responsible for his uncle’s death because of mental illness. Jury selection in his murder trial had been scheduled for Feb. 8, with the trial to begin Feb. 26. All that will change now with the change of plea to guilty.
If his plea is accepted, he faces 25 years to life in prison.
Jeremy Erving had undergone a court-ordered forensic evaluation of his mental health to determine his competence to enter a plea and to stand trail. Bingham attorney Peter Barnett, his other court-appointed lawyer, said that Erving had been found competent to proceed.
He told police that Randy Erving was his best friend and that they drank together nearly every day. His girlfriend dropped him off at Randy Erving’s home around noon the day of the shooting, and the two drank together until Randy Erving decided to go to bed around 7 p.m., the affidavit said.
Jeremy Erving then reportedly broke into the home of another relative, stole Twisted Tea, Budweiser beer and the rifle, and returned to his uncle’s house. Police later inspected the relative’s house on nearby Todd’s Corner Road and confirmed a rear window had been broken and the owner was missing a .30-30 caliber rifle.
Jeremy Erving told police he returned to his uncle’s house after the break-in and “asked for a cigarette at some point and Randy gave him one,” according to the affidavit.
He told police that he drank a few more beers and didn’t remember much other than “a bang and a barrel” before he was arrested for OUI in Dexter early the following morning.
Deputies from the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office visited Randy Erving’s home that Friday morning at 50 McNally Road in St. Albans and confirmed he was dead, the affidavit said. His body was found in his bed, and an empty .30-30 bullet cartridge was found nearby on the floor.
An autopsy from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that he had died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
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