Crime & Safety

3 Saline Teens Accused in Michigan State Student's Murder to Appear in Court Thursday

Attorneys are expected to seek more time to prepare their cases when teens appear in court for their preliminary exam.

The three Saline teenagers who are accused of killing a Michigan State University in an apparent drug deal last month will appear in court Thursday, but proceedings are expected to be adjourned – or suspended – to give lawyers on both sides time to prepare their cases.

Samantha Grigg, 18, Brendan Heim, 16, and Tyrel Bredernitz, 18, are all charged with felony murder, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in the Feb. 15 death of Dustyn Frolka, The Ann Arbor News/MLive reports.

Their first preliminary exam is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday in 65A District Court in St. Johns.

Find out what's happening in Brightonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Authorities say they used brass knuckles on the victim, then threw him from a moving vehicle along Interstate 69, where he was found unresponsive. He died en route to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing.

Clinton County Prosecutor Charles Sherman told reporters last week that he believes drug money was a motive for the robbery. Authorities don’t know how the victim knew the three teens, but Frolka’s Twitter account included Tweets mentioning that he expected to try the hallucinogenic drug DMT the evening he died, MLive reported.

Find out what's happening in Brightonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A search warrant executed at a residence in Bath Township, where one of the suspects was arrested, turned up drugs and drug paraphernalia. The other two suspects were arrested during a traffic stop. Police seized the vehicle, which they believe was the one Frolka was tossed from the night he died.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.