Brent Luyster Jr. pleaded not guilty Friday afternoon in Clark County Superior Court to a charge of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his stepfather.
Luyster’s defense attorney, Michele Michalek, appeared in Judge Susan Clark’s courtroom via Zoom from a booth at the jail seated next to her 17-year-old client.
This came after Luyster cursed at the judge and the media at his first appearance before Clark last week. After Luyster’s microphone was muted and he was removed from the Zoom feed, Clark told Michalek to remind Luyster of courtroom decorum, or the judge would hold him in contempt.
Clark set Luyster’s trial for Aug. 2, with a readiness hearing July 29. His bail is set at $1 million.
The teenage son and namesake of convicted triple murderer Brent Luyster was arrested last week at a residence in Amboy.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, the teen told a neighbor he stabbed his stepfather, identified as Luther M. Moore, 48, and thought he was dead. The neighbor called 911 and said Luyster told him that Moore was beating him with a broomstick.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies responded shortly after midnight to 28013 N.E. 419th St., Unit 1, for the reported assault, emergency dispatch records show. There, they found Luyster with blood on his clothing and a minor injury to his hand, the affidavit says.
Moore was found lying in the doorway of the residence with visible stab wounds to his back and side, the court document states.
Investigators said Luyster declined to speak with them without an attorney present.
However, detectives could hear Luyster identifying himself in the recorded 911 call. He could also be heard claiming that his stepfather was drunk and attacking him with a broom. Luyster reportedly said he stabbed his stepfather, and the knife broke off inside of him, according to the affidavit.
During his first court appearance last week, Michalek told the judge that Luyster has a case for self-defense, noting that Luyster is the one who called 911 and that he stayed on the scene until police arrived.
