The murder case against a 19-year-old Lima man will be starting over because of a recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling in another case.
Judge Jeffrey Reed dismissed the murder charge against Na’zier Howard Friday morning. Prosecutors filed a different murder charge against him in Allen County Juvenile Court. Howard was 17-year-old in December of 2019 when Kevonta Cowan was found with a gunshot wound on Kenilworth Avenue. Cowan was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Howard was indicted on aggravated murder in 2021 for Cowan's death.
Because the of Ohio Supreme Court ruling, the case has to go through a specific course of actions to make it back to the common pleas court. Howard's murder trial was scheduled to begin later this month. Howard is at the beginning of a 14-year sentence for robbing Hermies Party Shop and Little Ceasars in January of 2020.
