Teen charged in MSU student's homicide admitted involvement

ST. JOHNS – The Saline teen awaiting trial in the February killing of a Michigan State University student has admitted being involved, court documents show.

Brendan Heim's attorney, Frank Reynolds, had sought to suppress statements Heim, then 16, made to detectives about the killing of MSU sophomore Dustyn Frolka. Heim also provided a handwritten statement. The statements were not described in detail during a hearing Monday in Clinton County Circuit Court.

Judge Randy Tahvonen denied Reynold's request.

"The test is whether this defendant made a free and deliberate choice or instead was compelled to consent...through intimidation or deception," Tahvonen said. "I find that (the statements) are not involuntary and are therefore admissible."

It was also revealed during Monday's hearing that Heim underwent psychiatric treatment at the University of Michigan Hospital about a week before the Feb. 15 killing of Frolka.

Details of the psychiatric treatment were not described.

Heim was arrested the early morning of Feb. 22 and interviewed by a Bath Township police detective and a Clinton County sheriff's detective that same morning.

Heim -- a Saline High School sophomore who told police he'd stopped attending school -- has been found competent to stand trial. A final pretrial hearing is set for Oct. 13. The 17-year-old is charged as an adult with felony murder, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He faces up to life in prison and is being held without bond at the Clinton County Jail.

Two other Saline teens have pleaded guilty in the incident.

Tyrel Bredernitz, 18, pleaded guilty earlier this month to second-degree murder and will be sentenced in November. Samantha Grigg, 18, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is serving 6 to 15 years in prison.

The plan was to rob Frolka, 19. According to Grigg, all four were inside a Ford Explorer Sport Trac when she said Heim began beating Frolka with brass knuckles.

Frolka was either pushed out or jumped out of the speeding SUV. He was found on Interstate 69 in Bath Township and later pronounced dead.

Reynolds argued that Heim's age was one of the factors that made his statements unreliable. Reynolds also noted that Heim wasn't given a chance to call his parents, was handcuffed to a chair after his arrest and that the detectives used "ploys" to convince him to talk.

Heim did sign a form acknowledging he knew he had a right to an attorney and the right to remain silent.

Although Heim was 16, Tahvonen said, "it's clear that he was fairly sophisticated in his discussions with the officers."