Man charged with shooting teen neighbor pleads not guilty

A Wichita man charged with killing a 16-year-old friend at a neighbor’s home earlier this year has pleaded not guilty to second-degree reckless murder, according to Sedgwick County District Court records.

Fabian Juan Griffin is facing a Sept. 5 jury trial in connection with the March 3 fatal shooting of Casey James Lawrukiewicz. Griffin, 43, told police in an interview after the shooting that he didn’t think the 9mm semi-automatic handgun was loaded with live rounds when he picked it up off of a computer desk, pointed it at the teen and pulled the trigger. He also told police that he and his friends sometimes pulled pranks on one another in the style of the television show “Jackass” and that he had previously fired blanks from the gun, according to a police affidavit.

Lawrukiewicz, a student at Wichita East High School, died at 1:35 a.m. March 4 at Wesley Medical Center. He was shot once in the head at a duplex near Harry and Hillside.

Griffin entered the plea last week after he was bound over for trial on the charge, according to court records. He remains in the Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bond.

This story was originally published August 7, 2017 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Man charged with shooting teen neighbor pleads not guilty."