By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A trial has been set for early next year for a Genoa Township teen charged in a shooting death last year.

In court on Monday, an Oakland County Circuit Court judge set a January 18th, 2022 trial date for 18-year-old Max Bastien, who is charged with second-degree murder, felony firearm and carrying a concealed weapon.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office says Bastien was a passenger in a vehicle driven by a Brighton man on October 9th, 2020 when he shot 18-year-old Christopher Grant Alexander in the head with a semi-automatic handgun in a dispute over a marijuana transaction in Pontiac.

Previous testimony from two of Bastien’s acquaintances who accompanied him that night indicated that the drug sale was arranged via Snapchat and that after Alexander and another Pontiac man took the drugs and got out of the vehicle, Bastien also got out, telling the teens to stop or he would shoot. They then heard a loud “pop” at which point Bastien got back in the car.

The weapon and less than an ounce of marijuana were later recovered by police. Bastien remains jailed without bond. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.