Former Brookings resident charged in murder of Wyoming teen
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) – According to prosecutors, a South Dakota teenager charged with killing a girl whose body was found in his basement shot her after an argument.
Seventeen-year-old Michael Gavin Campbell is charged as an adult with second-degree murder. He’ll remain in juvenile detention with his bond set at $1 million.
Deputies found the girl’s body Monday in the basement of the teen’s home near Sturgis. Authorities believe it is 16-year-old Shayna Ritthaler, of Moorcroft, Wyoming, who has been missing since last Thursday.
The state’s attorney, says the defendant was with the victim when an argument turned violent and “he shot her.”
The states attorney also says the boy lived at the home with his mother and had recently moved there from Brookings.
A defense lawyer says he will ask that the case be returned to juvenile court and that his client will plead not guilty.
The body was found when deputies and agents from the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation executed a search warrant on the request of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office.