KENTWOOD, Mich.- Javonte Higgins appeared very confused in court Thursday as he was charged with the double murder of David and Vivian Bouwman.
“I don’t quite, I don’t really know what’s going on like that,” Higgins said in his video arraignment.
He gazed around, appearing disoriented and flustered, sometimes twitching as Judge William Kelly charged him for the January murders.
Higgins replied, “That’s not, that’s not, that can’t be, that can’t be.”
The Kentwood grandparents were found dead from gunshot wounds Jan. 5.
Kentwood Police Chief and Kent County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Becker say charging Higgins sooner would have been counterproductive because of the forensic exam in a previous case that showed Higgins competent to stand trial.
In other court appearances for that case, Higgins was unresponsive rocking, drooling and even smearing his own feces in his cell before facing a judge.
“I can’t, I can’t, I don’t, I can’t get a hold of this. I don’t know what you want me to do but I don’t want to be in trouble,” Higgins said to Judge Kelly during Thursday’s arraignment.
At one point in the investigation authorities were looking for an accomplice. During the press conference Thursday they said they now believe Higgins acted alone.
At one point in the arraignment Judge Kelly asked Higgins, “Do you understand if someone killed you they’d be facing consequences? They’d be facing murder charges?”
Higgins responded, “You, you want to kill me?”
During the arraignment the Bouwman family sat in the courtroom, visibly shaken by Higgins bizarre behavior.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 24 and he is currently held on $1 million bond.
