Lima teen pleads not guilty after robbery that led to shooting death

Oct. 25—LIMA — A Lima teen recently pleaded not guilty in Allen County Common Pleas Court to five charges in connection with the February shooting death of 14-year-old Lauralye Sterling.

Cardarius Burns, who turns 18 on Oct. 31, was charged with aggravated robbery with a firearm specification, felonious assault with a firearm specification, grand theft when the property is a firearm or a dangerous ordinance and two counts of possessing weapons while he was under control. incompetence. He is currently being held at the Allen County Juvenile Detention Center on a $250,000 bond.

The charges against Burns stem from an incident that occurred on February 13 and resulted in Sterling’s death. Malik Dennis — who is accused of firing the shot that killed the teen while she was at a residence at 788 Greenlawn Ave. — was formally charged with aggravated murder and two counts of murder, each unclassified felonies, along with single counts of abuse. unlawfully discharging a firearm into a home and tampering with evidence.

During a hearing for Dennis in municipal court, attorney Steve Chamberlain of the Allen County Public Defenders Office said it was learned that Dennis had been robbed shortly before the shooting by two juveniles who were at the Greenlawn Avenue residence. He reportedly left and returned with the firearm that shot Sterling.

Burns would have been one of those young people.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled in Common Plein Court on Nov. 4.

Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.

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