FLINT, Mich. – A judge on Tuesday declined to set a bond and release five Michigan teenagers charged with second-degree murder after a rock thrown from an overpass on Interstate 75 killed a man.
Not-guilty pleas were entered in a Genesee County court, six days after Ken White, 32, was killed by a 6-pound (2.7-kilogram) rock. He was a passenger in a van.
The teens are charged as adults. Kyle Anger, who turns 18 next week, is accused of throwing the rock that hit the van. He's being held in jail while the others are in juvenile detention.
"It's just a sad situation that hopefully will be determined by the facts of the case," said Erwin Meiers, an attorney for Trevor Gray, 15.
Police said at least 20 rocks were found on I-75 in Vienna Township, 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Detroit. Other cars were damaged.
"I can't give them enough punishment," said White's father, Kenny White. "Even if they spend 30 years in prison, they get to wake up every single day. They still get phone calls from their parents. They still get visitors. My son don't get none of that no more."
The teens also face charges of conspiracy and property destruction. The others are 16-year-olds Mark Sekelsky and Mikadyn Payne, and 15-year-old Alexzander Miller.
Sekelsky's attorney, Frank Manley, called White's death a tragedy but cautioned against a "mob mentality" and a "one-size-justice-fits-all" for the five defendants.