Plea hearing scheduled for Grant Taylor, man charged in 2015 firefighter death

LANSING - A plea hearing has been scheduled for Thursday for Grant Taylor, the Lansing man charged with murder in the 2015 hit-and-run death of a Lansing firefighter. 

A jury trial for Taylor, 24, had been scheduled to begin Sept. 5, and officials were making plans to start with 200 potential jurors, an unusually high amount for a single trial due to the high-profile nature of the case. 

Taylor was charged in September 2015 after a hit-and-run crash killed Lansing firefighter Dennis Rodeman. Rodeman, 35, was among a half dozen firefighters who were collecting donations for charity near the intersection of Cedar Street and Jolly road when he was struck by a white pickup truck. 

Police later said Taylor became angered at the traffic backup from the fundraiser and intentionally struck Rodeman before fleeing the scene in his truck, according to court records. He was arrested a short time later near his home after a pursuit with police.

Taylor has a history of mental illness and was twice involuntarily hospitalized, once in 2013 and then again 2014. Taylor's trial had been delayed, in part, because he had been found incompetent to stand trial after initially being found competent. In April, a court determined that Taylor had regained competency.  

Rodeman's death made national headlines and his funeral was held at Michigan State University's Breslin Center, where the university's basketball teams play. The city raised more than $150,000 for Rodeman's widow, who in March 2016 gave birth to the couple's first child. 

In an email Tuesday evening, Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney Carol Siemon said, "Yes, plea for Grant Taylor scheduled for Thursday." She declined to comment further. 

Taylor's attorney, Stacia Buchanan, did not return a message seeking comment. On Tuesday evening, Gov. Rick Snyder announced that he had appointed Buchanan as a judge in Lansing's 54A District Court.

Contact Matt Mencarini at (517) 267-1347 or mmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini.