FAIRBORN — Fairborn Municipal Court Judge Beth Cappelli determined March 15 that there was probable cause in the case stemming from last week’s alleged murder of Hampton Inn clerk Andrew Day. The case now moves to common pleas.
Michael D. McLendon, 24, is charged with murder and aggravated robbery, each with firearms specifications.
Fairborn police officers responded to the hotel at 2550 Paramount Place after receiving report of a shooting after 7 p.m. March 7, an initial press release said.
Officer Daniel Foreman testified at the preliminary hearing that Day had been shot. He said he found him lying behind the counter.
“I asked him what had happened, if he had been robbed,” Foreman testified, with a steady voice, in the municipal courtroom.
He said Day responded, “Yes … By two black males, both in dark clothes.”
“He spoke about his wife and daughter,” Foreman continued.
Foreman testified that two others were there; one held the apparent gunshot wound until medics arrived. Construction workers allegedly said they had seen two black males flee the parking lot.
Medics transported Day, 29, to Soin Medical Center, where he died, reports indicate.
Detective Shaun Pettit testified that a 9 mm bullet and spent casing were found at the scene. He said that DNA evidence reports had not yet been returned to detectives.
He also said that McLendon had allegedly confessed the crime to his sister.
Prosecutor Stephen Haller and First Assistant Prosecutor Suzanne Schmidt questioned the detective.
“She said he confessed to her that he had shot the clerk in the back of his head,” Pettit said. “This was interesting to me because we had not released that information. We originally thought he was shot in the chest.”
A death investigator with the coroner’s office, Carl Day, testified that the preliminary findings of the autopsy revealed evidence of a gunshot wound entrance in the head and a possible exit wound through the chest.
Pettit said McLendon, later in an interview, confessed to him. Allegedly, McLendon described fleeing the scene, dividing the money with his accomplice, returning home and disposing his gloves and hoodie. McLendon was later arrested.
Defense Attorney Chris Beck asked Pettit about his prior knowledge of any mental health issues that McLendon might have.
“Did you ever get the feeling you were dealing with mental health issues in Michael McLendon?” Beck asked.
Pettit answered that he was concerned about some of McLendon’s answers during the interview, but that he was unaware of health records or treatment. At some point, he said, he learned from others that McLendon allegedly suffers from schizophrenia.
Testimony revealed that two other robberies occurred that night in the Dayton area.
McLendon is being held in the Greene County Jail on a $1 million bond.
