BY JEFF HOGAN

Special to the Leader

LAPEER — Chadwick Mobley stood mute Monday morning from the Lapeer County Jail during a virtual arraignment proceeding when he was charged in the murder of Andrea Eilber, 20, of Otisville, that occurred in November 2011.

Mobley, 42, wearing an orange Lapeer County Jail prisoner jumpsuit, said nothing during the arraignment when a “Not Guilty” plea was entered on his behalf.

Kenneth Carl “KC” Grondin, who was 19 years old at the time, now 31, worked with Eilber at the Kroger store in Lapeer. They were friends and had dated. Following the slaying, KC was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder.

On Monday in Magistrate Michael Delling’s courtroom at 71A District Court were Eilber’s grandmother and members of KC’s family including his parents and grandfather.

“I was hoping he would’ve said something,” said Carl Grondin, Sr. “I was hoping he would’ve confessed, and they can let KC free.” He noted KC remains in good spirits, but won’t let himself get too optimistic “until they cut the tether from his ankle. That’s when he will know this is over and he’s finally free.”

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has charged Mobley with one count of first-degree murder, a felony that carries a life sentence without the possibility of parole; one count of felony murder, a charge that carries a life sentence without the possibility of parole; and, one count of felony firearm, a two-year felony.

KC remains on a tether and is awaiting a new trial. He remains charged in Eilber’s murder. In 2015, KC was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His conviction was overturned in 2018 after state courts ruled there were issues with the verdict form used at trial.

Mobley arrived at the Lapeer County Jail on Saturday from Montana where he escaped earlier from a transport van that was taking him from a county jail to an airport to be flown back to Michigan to face charges in Eilber’s murder.

Mobley was linked to the crime by DNA evidence found at the scene that was reanalyzed last year, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

Mobley had been living in Utah but fled to Montana after being questioned by investigators, authorities said. He was initially arrested June 28 in Libby, Montana, which is about 70 miles from Plains. It was unclear how he managed to remove his handcuffs and shackles. He was apprehended on June 30.

Because Mobley eluded police in Utah and Montana, he was considered a flight risk and was remanded to jail at the request of the state Attorney General’s (AG) office until further court proceedings — the next to occur on Friday, July 28 at 9 a.m. in Judge Laura Barnard’s courtroom for a probable cause hearing. A defense attorney, Frederick Miller, was appointed to represent Mobley. “At this time I know a little bit about the case, but can’t make any statements,” Miller told The County Press on Monday.

On July 9, he escaped from a prisoner transport service van, hired by the state AG’s office to get Mobley back to Michigan. Attorney General Dana Nessel said an investigation continues to determine how Mobley escaped.

In 2011, Mobley was known to have lived in the Auburn Hills area. KC, according to his grandfather, says he has no idea who Mobley is.