Emporia ? A trial date was set Wednesday after a Topeka man accused in the December shooting death of an 18-year-old hunter waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

District Court Judge Lee Fowler entered a not guilty plea for Theron Thomas Kent, 57, on charges connected to the death of 18-year-old Beau Arndt, of Americus.

Kent is charged with a single felony count of involuntary manslaughter and three misdemeanors – attempted unlawful methods of taking wildlife, criminal hunting and criminal discharge of a firearm.

The court was prepared to hear evidence in a preliminary hearing Wednesday, but Kent chose to waive his right to the hearing, and the court proceeded straight to arraignment. His trial, expected to last five days, is scheduled to start June 23.

Arndt, a freshman at Emporia State University, was shot dead Dec. 15 while he and two friends were lying in a field waiting for geese after placing several dozen decoys nearby.

Arndt’s friends said a truck stopped along a nearby road and someone inside fired a rifle shot into the decoys but hit Arndt instead.

Kent was taken into custody on Dec. 19, after investigators discovered he had rented a nearby cabin and owned a pickup that matched the description given by witnesses at the scene.