What started as an October 2025 report that a Merritt Academy student had guns in a car on campus has now turned into criminal cases for the student and both parents in Macomb County. Prosecutors say firearms were discovered in a vehicle parked at the New Haven charter school and have filed misdemeanor counts against the adults, along with a juvenile petition for the student. The student's mother was working at the school at the time, and the episode is raising uncomfortable questions about how staff handled the situation.
According to CBS News Detroit, the student's mother, Kendra Kneer, was serving as Merritt Academy's dean of students when the matter surfaced and is no longer employed by the district. Prosecutors charged Kneer with two counts of possessing a weapon in a weapons-free school zone and one count under Michigan's safe-storage law, while the student's father, William Kneer III, faces two safe-storage counts, the outlet reports. Court filings show both parents were arraigned on July 20 and released on $500 personal bonds.
As reported by ClickOnDetroit, investigators say classmates reported concerning statements by the student, prompting staff to check the student's vehicle. Authorities allege the student's father then contacted a family friend, who removed firearms from the car while it remained on school property. A Macomb County Sheriff's Office Youth Bureau probe that included interviews and search warrants led to charges being submitted to prosecutors on Jan. 16, 2026. The student has been petitioned in Macomb County Circuit Court's Family Division on two counts of possessing a weapon in a weapon-free school zone.
Investigation Timeline And School Response
The Macomb County Sheriff's Office lists a School Resource Officer assigned to Merritt Academy in the Macomb County annual report, meaning a deputy is contracted to the New Haven campus. But the sheriff's office told CBS News Detroit that its S.R.O. was not notified at the time staff checked the student's vehicle, a detail county investigators flagged during their review. School staff later reported the incident to law enforcement, according to local reporting.
What The Charges Mean
Michigan law treats both the school-zone possession counts and safe-storage violations as criminal offenses that can carry jail time and fines. Guidance from the Michigan State Police outlines the state's "safe storage" statute (MCL 28.429), which requires firearms to be locked or disabled when a minor is, or is likely to be, present and lists a first-offense penalty as a 93-day misdemeanor. The state's weapon-free school statute (MCL 750.237a) likewise makes possessing a weapon in a school zone a misdemeanor and provides for enhanced penalties if other firearm offenses are committed on school grounds, per the Michigan Legislature. These statutes form the legal basis for the counts prosecutors have filed.
Court records and local reporting show prosecutors petitioned the student and that the parents were arraigned this week, with bond set at $500. As ClickOnDetroit notes, investigators described the case as the result of an extensive Youth Bureau investigation. Court proceedings remain pending, and prosecutors have not released additional comment.
