Nutritional sciences senior Andrew Singler texted a series of profane messages to Okemos resident Connor McCowan the night he reportedly drove to Singler’s apartment and stabbed him until he fell bleeding onto the floor, Feb. 23, according to testimony from Meridian Township police Thursday at the 55th District Court in Mason.
Judge Donald Allen ruled that based on the testimony and text messages presented during the preliminary hearing, there is enough evidence against McCowan for a jury to try him for murder. McCowan’s arraignment is scheduled for May 1 in Ingham County Circuit Court.
Text message records from McCowan’s phone painted a grim picture of the night Singler’s roommate and alumnus Tyler Aho said McCowan arrived at the door of his apartment with a flip blade.
The morning he died, Singler was drunk and angry he could not find his keys to the apartment at Rothbury Road that he shared with his girlfriend, McCowan’s sister Shay, Aho testified in court. At the time of his death, his blood alcohol content was 0.124 percent and there were slight traces of marijuana in his system, said John Bechinski, a forensic pathologist at Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital.
Aho said Singler blamed Shay for the lost keys, and according to pages of text messages read by Meridian Township police Sgt. Andrew McCready, Singler screamed at her, called her names and repeatedly called her phone. She texted her brother and told him Singler broke her ribs and back, although McCready said, to his knowledge, she never was treated for injuries and later she texted her brother saying she was fine.
Still, it was enough to set Connor McCowan off.
“I’ll beat the shit out of him,” he texted his sister at about 3 a.m. on Feb. 23. “I’ll f*****g knock his teeth out.”
After calling Singler a “whore,” “slut,” and other expletives via text, McCowan asked to come to Singler’s apartment.
“Come on over f**, I’ll f*****g embarrass you,” Singler texted back.
Aho said when McCowan arrived, Singler — described as athletic, almost 6-feet tall and about 180 pounds — hit McCowan with a “haymaker” punch to the face. A grapple ensued, then McCowan stabbed the knife into Singler’s chest and fled.
“Andrew fell to the wall, fell to the ground,” Aho said in court. “I think he screamed, ‘Oh god.’… He was in pain.”
Aho said McCowan never went to Singler, who was bleeding on the floor, to see if he was OK.
Aho said he looked at him “threateningly,” shrugged his shoulders and left.
McCowan’s attorney, Chris Bergstrom, argued he acted in self defense after Singler provoked him and struck him in the face. But it wasn’t enough to sway Allen.
“I’m glad the procedure went forward as planned and justice is going to be served,” said Brandon Green, a former MSU student who lived with Singler for more than two years and sat in the courtroom during the proceeding.
Support student media!
Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Discussion
Share and discuss “Enough evidence against McCowan for murder trial” on social media.
