The suspect in a fatal February 2022 shooting in Aggieville noted in Riley County District Court Monday he intends to plead not guilty to all seven counts listed in the criminal complaint.
Tremelle Montgomery, of Fort Riley, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of fellow soldier Joshua Wardi. He also faces three counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated assault against Donovan Bastien, Jared Musgrave and Tyrece White.
The case will likely be scheduled for trial this fall, though a date wasn’t determined Monday, due to scheduling conflicts between the state and defense in September and October, preventing a trial until at least November at the earliest. The trial calendar for the courts is not currently scheduled out beyond October. As a result, Judge John Bosch continued the case to April 17 for a status hearing, where both sides will try to lock down a one-week trial setting.
Bosch stated in court he was hesitant to schedule any trials that far out to ensure there was no overlap with other trials in the courthouse, something the judges have been trying to prevent.
Bosch also approved a nearly $5,000 request by defense attorneys Brenda Jordan and Lora Ingels to hire an expert witness. Deputy Riley County Attorney Trinity Muth requested a deadline for that information to be gathered ahead of trial to avoid scheduling delays with the state’s witnesses.
Montgomery remains jailed on a $1.5 million bond.
