Chavez Myers moved forward to sentencing Friday after affirming his guilty plea to first-degree murder while armed in connection with the November 2012 stabbing death of 18-year-old Olijawon Griffin.
Myers withdrew his motion to withdraw his guilty plea Friday. He pleaded guilty in September, but sought to withdraw the plea earlier this month.
Myers said he had had insufficient time to think about the plea and that his defense attorneys and family had persuaded him to agree to charges he said he did not commit.
On Friday, his new defense attorney said Myers would like to go forward with his original guilty plea and sentencing. The sentencing guidelines that both sides previously agreed remain unchanged. Under the plea agreement, Myers could face up to 30 years in prison for Griffin’s death. Prosecutors, in exchange, dropped nine counts of conspiracy, robbery, and related weapons offenses against Myers.
Myers is one of nine suspects charged in connection with Griffin’s murder. However, with the sole exception of Myers, all codefendants in the case pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed. His codefendants told the government that on Nov. 17, 2012, it was Myers who snuck up on Griffin from behind and stabbed him in the chest with a knife, causing his death.
Myers is expected for sentencing on Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. with Judge Ronna Beck.
