Scott City teenager accused of murder to appear in court April 1

Marcus Bowers, a Scott City teen accused of murdering a Kelso man last September, makes his next court appearance at 10 a.m. April 1 in Butler County.

Bowers will either enter a guilty plea or Circuit Judge Mark L. Richardson will set a date for a jury trial.

When Stanely Hagan died in September of 2007, the fatality was reported as an accident.

Five days earlier, Bowers allegedly slammed Hagan's head into a mobile-home tie down stake, causing injuries which led to Hagan's death.

Hagan's death was a direct result of the altercation with Bowers, according to Hagan's sister, Susan Koerber.

Police began investigating the incident with Bowers as foul play, but kept it quiet to protect witnesses in the case, said Scott City chief of police Don Cobb.

On Jan. 3, a Scott County grand jury indicted Bowers for the murder and armed criminal action.

Bowers was, at that time, in the Scott County Jail on child molestation charges for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Those charges are still pending.

Bowers brought Hagan to a mobile home at Crites Street in Scott City, but Hagan was made to leave after an altercation inside, according to an anonymous source.

Bowers then followed the 45-year-old man outside, where the incident allegedly occurred.

Hagan was trying to calm his life down and improve certain things, said Marilyn Schmidt, a former girlfriend, and the mother of Hagan's child.

Schmidt said Hagan did not look for fights and was not the type to constantly be in trouble.