LISBON — Michael Blower, the man charged with aggravated murder in the March 3 shooting death of Rusty Steele in Lisbon, is scheduled to face a jury trial on Jan. 23 after being found competent and sane.

Blower, 31, Newgarden Avenue, Salem, appeared for a hearing Thursday afternoon before Judge Megan Bickerton in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court accompanied by his defense attorney Lou DeFabio. He’s also represented by defense attorney Holly Hanni, who wasn’t able to attend.

The state was represented by county Chief Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Weikart and Assistant Prosecutor Alec Beech.

Bickerton said she reviewed the reports on the evaluations by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio on Blower’s competency and sanity. Both the defense and the prosecutors confirmed they reviewed the reports as well. Bickerton had ordered the evaluations based on a motion by the defense team concerning their client’s competency and whether he could plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Based on the findings, Bickerton found that Blower was competent and was not insane at the time of the commission of the offense. Upon questioning by the judge, DeFabio indicated he had no intention of filing a motion for an independent evaluation.

Bickerton ordered that all further motions for the case be filed by 4 p.m. Sept. 18. An interim status conference was scheduled for 2 p.m. Oct. 16, with a final status conference set for 10 p.m. Dec. 18.

Charges pending against Blower include aggravated murder and murder, both with firearms specifications, for allegedly causing Steele’s death. He remains in custody at the county jail under a $1.5 million bond. Steele, 40, resided on Harvey Avenue, Lisbon at the time of his death.

He was found facedown in the street with a gunshot wound to the chest on West Spruce Street the night of March 3. Blower turned himself in on March 4 and allegedly confessed to shooting Steele. An affidavit filed in the case against Blower said he and Steele had been arguing by phone all evening. Steele had children with Blower’s wife. The night of the shooting, Steele was at his girlfriend’s home on West Spruce Street.

After the shooting, Lisbon Police Chief Mike Abraham said officers “learned Mr. Steele was lured out of the house when someone knocked on the door and said their car broke down and wanted to know if he could give them a jump.”

When Steele went outside and was seated in his vehicle, he was allegedly approached by Blower, who shot him.

Family members for both the victim and the defendant attended the hearing, with one woman wearing a T-shirt that said “Justice for Rusty” with his picture on the front.

In a related case, there’s a status hearing set for 1 p.m. Aug. 4 for Christopher J. Mills, 43, Washington Street, Washingtonville, who’s charged with obstructing justice, a third-degree felony, for allegedly providing transportation to Blower to and from the site of the shooting.

mgreier@mojonews.com