WRITTEN BY KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2010 18:43
Grafton man charged with killing teen on Nov. 15 claims mental defect at hearing
Charles Avey, the Grafton man accused of strangling his 14-year-old stepson to get back at his wife after she reported him to police for domestic abuse, pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court.
Avey, who was represented by Pub-lic Defender John Kuczmarski during his appearance before Circuit Judge James Muehlbauer, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the Nov. 15 murder of Cody Reetz, an eighth-grader at John Long Middle School in Grafton.
Muehlbauer set a hearing in the case for Wednesday, March 10, and set aside five days for a jury trial beginning Sept. 17, according to court records.
Cody was found strangled in his stepfather’s 1999 Oldsmobile Silhouette van, which was in the Germantown WalMart parking lot.
According to the criminal complaint, Avey went to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department about 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15, confessed to strangling his stepson and told deputies where they could find Cody’s body. He was driven to the sheriff’s department by his former wife, to whom he also confessed, the complaint states.
During Avey’s initial court appearance, Washington County District Attorney Todd Martens called the crime “a savage act, a sickening crime of absolute brutality.”
Avey, who waived a preliminary hearing last month, is also charged with bail jumping.
If convicted of the charges, Avey faces life in prison on the homicide charge and six years in prison and a $10,000 fine for bail jumping.
In addition to the charges related to the murder, Avey also faces five felony counts of identity theft. Avey was charged on Oct. 7 with using the identity of his wife’s former husband to open credit card accounts and purchase merchandise and services.
Avey was free on a $7,500 signature bond in connection with the identity theft case when the murder occurred.
Avey is also charged in Ozaukee County court with a felony charge of strangulation and suffocation and a misdemeanor count of battery in connection with the attack on his wife.
Charles Avey
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