The legal process in Huron’s fourth homicide of the year is underway.  Twenty-four-year-old Edwin Thompson made his first court appearance Tuesday. He is charged with second-degree murder for the death of 21-year-old Ryan Treadway. He’s being held without bond.

With rights read and an attorney appointed for Thompson in Beadle County, it was just the beginning of a process to determine if he is guilty of second-degree murder.

"Edwin was a good friend of mine and so was Ryan," Kyle Waldner said.

Waldner wasn't expecting to see one of them before a judge accused of killing the other.

"Usually he was just a quiet guy that stayed to himself. He didn't really hurt anybody when I knew him," Waldner said about Thompson.

Police responded to a fight call Sunday night at an assisted living center for people with mental illness. They found Treadway in a pool of blood behind the building and arrested Thompson.

Authorities aren't saying if Thompson was living in the center at the time but court papers list it as his address.

"I think he should go away for life," Susan Robertson said.

As a friend of Treadway, Robertson is thankful Thompson is being held without bond. The prosecutor cited assault charges in Thompson's past along with the severity of the crime he's accused of now when requesting the 24-year-old not have the chance to get out on bond at this time.

Waldner understands. But says it's hard for friends and family involved as well.

"Hope that everything works out for Edwin and rest in peace for Ryan and hope that everyone can get through it," Waldner said.