ADRIAN — A defendant in a fatal shooting in February 2023 in Adrian who pleaded guilty to manslaughter has had his sentencing postponed until October.

Part of Gage Michael Winsett’s plea agreement requires him to testify truthfully against his co-defendant, Kenyatto Twaine Sylvertooth. They had been scheduled to go on trial on open murder and firearms charges on May 14, but Winsett, 19, of Adrian pleaded guilty May 7 to manslaughter and being an accessory after the fact to a felony. Sylvertooth’s trial is now scheduled to begin Sept. 17. A final pretrial date is set for Aug. 28, according to Lenawee County Circuit Court records.

Winsett originally was scheduled to be sentenced Friday by Circuit Judge Michael R. Olsaver. He is now scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 4. He faces up to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and five years in prison on the accessory charge.

The open murder charge allows a jury to decide the degree of murder should the case go to trial. A first-degree murder conviction is punishable by life in prison without parole. Second-degree murder is punishable by up to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Sylvertooth, 46, of Detroit and Winsett were arrested last August in the death of Jonathan Marquise Simmons of Detroit. Simmons was shot in an exchange of gunfire between two vehicles on the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2023, near the intersection of South Tecumseh and Frank streets in Adrian. Simmons was taken by a private vehicle to ProMedica Hickman Hospital where he died.

Subscribe Now: For all the latest local developments, breaking news, and high school and college sports content.

In entering his plea, Winsett told the court that Sylvertooth is a family friend of his, according to a transcript of the hearing in the case file. Winsett said there had been a disagreement with Simmons, and he and Sylvertooth got in Sylvertooth’s Jeep to look for Simmons. When they found Simmons, Sylvertooth shot him. Winsett said he later lied to police in order to protect Sylvertooth.

In April, Olsaver ruled that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence to bind the case over from Lenawee County District Court to circuit court for a trial. He reviewed video and cellphone evidence and witness testimony from the case’s preliminary examination about who was where around the time of the shooting and that showed the shots came from a Jeep registered to Sylvertooth.

Sylvertooth is being held on a $15,005,000 bond. Winsett has been committed to jail prior to sentencing.

— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Sentencing in 2023 Adrian murder case adjourned