CASS COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Two men involved in a home invasion and murder case will each stand trial on several felony counts.
Previously, suspects Justin Robert-Gabriel Carlton, 41, and Jay Vincent Penar, 38, were arrested after allegedly entering a Dowagiac home, killing the owner Michael Collins, and tying up three other people as they searched for items to steal.
Police say this was not a random incident and that the residence was specifically targeted by the suspects. Penar himself once lived at that home.
Both have since been bound over in Cass County Circuit Court.
During a preliminary hearing for Carlton on Wednesday, February 12, investigators testified that Carlton confessed to the killing after he was apprehended during the night of the incident.
Each suspect is charged with 13 felony counts and could face up to life in prison.
