Judge grants change of venue to man charged in student beating

Circuit Court Judge Benjamin F. Lewis granted a change of venue Monday for Southeast Missouri State University student Derek Gohn, one of five men charged in connection to the Dec. 13 assault of a fellow student.

His case will now be heard in front of a New Madrid County judge.

Gohn, 19, is charged with felony burglary for allegedly entering the residence on Dunklin Street where 21-year-old Blake Carlton was kicked and punched, resulting in severe head injuries.

Jared Goodson, Brett Jones and Pili Showers, all Southeast students, have also been granted changes of venue to New Madrid County.

According to a probable-cause affidavit filed by Detective Keith Green, Gohn, with four other students, were seen in a campus security videotape leaving the dorms around 4:40 a.m., less than an hour before the alleged beating of Carlton.

Gohn told Green he and the other students parked a few blocks from the 1325 Dunklin St. residence and walked toward the residence. At that time, he said he saw four people, two white men and two black men, run out of the residence.

Another student in the vehicle with Gohn told Green that Gohn and another student stayed in the car while the others walked up to the residence.

In the affidavit, Jones said Gohn was one of the five who entered the Dunklin Street residence. Jones told Green that he saw Gohn flip over a table, but that only Antonio Garritano, charged with third-degree assault and first-degree burglary in the crime, hit Carlton.

ehevern@semissourian.com

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