KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO-AM) -- Another Western Michigan University athlete is in custody and this time under suspicion of murder after the shooting death of an exercise science major from Onsted, Michigan.
Several sources have Identified Joeviair “Hip Hop” Kennedy, originally from Muskegon, as one of the suspects. He is in custody. The second suspect has not been caught.
The victim has been identified by the University as Jacob Jones, a 19-year-old transfer student from Olivet College.
Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley tells WOOD-TV 8 that the shooting occured during a dope deal that apparently went sideways, on the fourth floor at Soho Apartments, a huge complex just across Howard Street from campus late Thursday night.
The suspect is being held for open murder, home invasion and armed robbery.
Kennedy had been on full scholarship. Now he has been suspended.
Information about Kennedy has been purged from the WMU Athletic Department’s website, but news accounts suggest it was a very big deal when the Muskegon teen signed his letter of intent to play for Western.
It’s not the first time this semester that WMU athletes have been arrested for crimes.
Two members of the football team were arrested just before the fall term began. Ronald George and Bryson White are awaiting trial for first-degree home invasion, armed robbery and larceny. They allegedly broke into a woman's apartment with a gun and a knife and robbed her of Marijuana and some other property.
34-year-old Michael Chester Williams, a former star on the WMU basketball team who was named MAC Player of the year in 2004 was sentenced to 90 days in jail in October after he was charged with delivery of cocaine after his arrest in Oshtemo last spring. He cut a deal with prosecutors.