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Teen arraigned for murder of half-sister

Posted at 11:30 AM, Aug 25, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-25 18:17:56-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A teen has been charged as an adult Thursday for killing his half-sister.

Savon Eugene Schmus charged with murdering 18-year-old McKenna Hilton.

A Kent County Sheriff's Department deputy testified that Schmus admitted to strangling Hilton at an apartment along Plaza Drive, according to a probable cause affidavit. The deputy testified that Schmus said he then carried her body to a car and drove to the area of Emerald Lake and Valentine Street NE to dump her body.

The sheriff's department said in a release Wednesday that autopsy results concluded that Hilton had been strangled.

Family and friends packed the courtroom Thursday for the arraignment.  Schmus is being held without bond.

He has also been moved from the Juvenile Detention Center to the Kent County Jail because he is being considered a danger to himself and others.  He will be housed separately from the general population.

Hilton was a recent graduate of East Kentwood High School and an employee at Craig's Cruisers.