(CENTREVILLE) – A plea agreement has been reached in murder case from October 2021.
St. Joseph County Circuit Court online records show that no contest pleas have been entered by 36 year old Michael Lafler to charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault with intent to do great bodily harm in the strangulation death of 33 year old Chelsea Wallen. With those pleas, St. Joseph County Prosecutor David Marvin has dismissed a charge of open murder.
Wallen was Lafler’s girlfriend and had lived in Colon her whole life.
This case has been bouncing between St. Joseph County District Court and Circuit Court since 2021. After the case was originally bound over to Circuit Court, Judge Paul Stutesman approved a defense motion to send the case back to District Court because a previous attorney had not properly represented Lafler.
Lafler is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23.
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