CatoCooper13
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Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Assistant prosecutor Stephen Knowling, left, discusses the arrest in the shooting death of an Amish man.
HOLMESVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A family friend was charged with murder Tuesday in the shooting of a young man who was throwing tomatoes at passing vehicles from a cornfield, a traditional prank in the Amish community.
Marion D. Weaver, 58, drove his car past the field several times, deputies said, and after the vehicle was hit repeatedly with tomatoes, fired several shotgun rounds blindly into the cornstalks.
The victim, Steven L. Keim, 23, was hiding in the dark field with about 10 others, ages 15 to 23, who told authorities they were throwing the tomatoes and firing paintball guns.
Keim's death shocked the Amish of Mount Hope, about 60 miles south of Cleveland. Keim's family was Amish when he was born. They later became Mennonites, who share beliefs with the Amish but drive and use modern conveniences.
The victim's father said Weaver was a family friend.
"I don't really know how I feel," Reuben Keim, 48, said from the front porch of his house in Orrville. "I've known him close to 30 years. He went fishing with the whole family up on Lake Erie.
Stevie shot trap with him. I'm sure he didn't realize that Stevie was in there."
Weaver was arrested after his release from a hospital earlier Tuesday. Authorities would not say why he was hospitalized. But Keim said Weaver recently had stents implanted in blood vessels near his heart.
He was being held on $250,000 bond. If convicted, he faces 15 years to life in prison.
Weaver was identified as a suspect shortly after the September 1 shooting, in part based on tips from the public, Zimmerly said. An arrest warrant was issued after evidence was recovered from Weaver's home and a nearby house.
Police found several shotguns at the house, and a gray Cadillac belonging to Weaver that matched witnesses' descriptions, said Steve Knowling, a Holmes County prosecutor. Four 12-gauge shotgun shells found at the cornfield were fired from one of the shotguns, he said.
Assistant prosecutor Stephen Knowling, left, discusses the arrest in the shooting death of an Amish man.
HOLMESVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A family friend was charged with murder Tuesday in the shooting of a young man who was throwing tomatoes at passing vehicles from a cornfield, a traditional prank in the Amish community.
Marion D. Weaver, 58, drove his car past the field several times, deputies said, and after the vehicle was hit repeatedly with tomatoes, fired several shotgun rounds blindly into the cornstalks.
The victim, Steven L. Keim, 23, was hiding in the dark field with about 10 others, ages 15 to 23, who told authorities they were throwing the tomatoes and firing paintball guns.
Keim's death shocked the Amish of Mount Hope, about 60 miles south of Cleveland. Keim's family was Amish when he was born. They later became Mennonites, who share beliefs with the Amish but drive and use modern conveniences.
The victim's father said Weaver was a family friend.
"I don't really know how I feel," Reuben Keim, 48, said from the front porch of his house in Orrville. "I've known him close to 30 years. He went fishing with the whole family up on Lake Erie.
Stevie shot trap with him. I'm sure he didn't realize that Stevie was in there."
Weaver was arrested after his release from a hospital earlier Tuesday. Authorities would not say why he was hospitalized. But Keim said Weaver recently had stents implanted in blood vessels near his heart.
He was being held on $250,000 bond. If convicted, he faces 15 years to life in prison.
Weaver was identified as a suspect shortly after the September 1 shooting, in part based on tips from the public, Zimmerly said. An arrest warrant was issued after evidence was recovered from Weaver's home and a nearby house.
Police found several shotguns at the house, and a gray Cadillac belonging to Weaver that matched witnesses' descriptions, said Steve Knowling, a Holmes County prosecutor. Four 12-gauge shotgun shells found at the cornfield were fired from one of the shotguns, he said.