Deputies responding to the scene of a homicide this spring in Ypsilanti Township’s West Willow neighborhood arrived to find David Harold Bennett’s body lying naked in a back bedroom of his home, covered in bruises.

Keithen Potter stood in an area between Bennett’s kitchen and family room as Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Hause entered the home in the 700 block of Dorset Avenue with a partner.

“I didn’t kill him. I didn’t (expletive) kill him,” Potter, 33, told Hause.

That testimony from Hause regarding the May 12 morning that police arrived at Bennett’s home was recounted in court late last week as part of Potter's criminal case. Potter is accused of killing Bennett, his friend of three years.

Chief Washtenaw County 14-A District Court Judge Kirk Tabbey found enough evidence to bind Potter’s case over to circuit court on charges of open murder and larceny in a building — an addition requested by prosecutors — bringing to a close more than 5 hours of testimony at a probable cause hearing.

Potter pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The court heard from Hause, who first responded to the scene; Chief Washtenaw County Medical Examiner Bader Cassin; Potter’s mother, Joyce Adams-McEaddy, who lives across the street from Bennett; and several other people who were in the neighborhood that day.

Potter sat silent as his mother took the stand and recounted finding her son on her front porch May 12, just after 6 a.m. He seemed nervous and panicky, Adams-McEaddy said. And though her son appeared intoxicated — as a result of the drinking he often did when spending time with Bennett, his mother said — his emotion that day was different.

“Mom, Dave’s dead, Dave’s dead,’” he told her.

“I said, ‘Quit playing,’" Adams-McEaddy recalled of that early morning conversation.

But Potter insisted that wasn’t the case.

“I’m not playing,” he said.

Potter then returned to Bennett’s home, where he told his mother he planned to call police.

Adams-McEaddy at several points during her testimony had trouble remembering exactly what had happened that morning. She at first recalled going straight back to bed after letting her son inside, but later recounted the conversation the two had that morning and her son's unease.

Adams-McEaddy remembered calling Potter around 10 p.m. May 11, asking him where he planned to spend the night. Potter had been staying with his mother for about a week. She was locking up, and didn’t want him coming in after hours.

Potter told her he planned to stay with Bennett. The two planned to kick back and have some beers. She didn’t hear from him again until hours later, when he appeared on her porch the next morning.

Minutes after Potter returned to Bennett’s home, dispatchers received a 911 call around 6:30 a.m. from Potter, indicating he had found Bennett dead, the victim of a knife wound, Deputy Hause testified.

Hause said Potter stood at the side door of Bennett’s home as he and another deputy arrived, and Hause’s partner immediately patted Potter down. That deputy found a knife as the two walked inside the home. Still, at that point, there was no sign that knife was used in any crime, Hause said.

Hause continued walking and came through the doorway of a back bedroom, where he found Bennett lying on a bed, naked. It was clear the man was already dead, Hause said, and a paramedic who arrived minutes later confirmed this.

An autopsy performed later that afternoon determined the man’s death was a homicide, Medical Examiner Bader Cassin said.

Cassin said he found bruises covering much of Bennett’s body, along with several broken ribs and a broken breastbone and nose. Ultimately, the death was attributed to blunt force trauma.

Cassin said Bennett likely died about 15 minutes after he was attacked. Police did not arrive at the scene until about 6:30 a.m., but based on findings in that autopsy, Cassin estimated he died about 3 hours earlier — around 3 a.m.

Further testing revealed Bennett had a blood-alcohol level of .33 — more than double the legal limit — at the time of his death. Traces of marijuana were found in his bloodstream, likely used within the previous 24 hours, Cassin said.

As detectives arrived on the scene that morning to begin a full investigation, Hause said, he spoke further with Potter.

“He told me they were just hanging out, having beers,” Hause said. “He indicated they went to sleep together in the back bedroom where Dave was located.”

According to Hause, Potter said Bennett frequently had women stay over at his home and it was that situation that led to the man’s death — the result of an encounter Bennett had with one of the women’s boyfriends.

Judge Tabbey sent the case on to trial court and Potter will remain at the Washtenaw County Jail without bond, pending a pretrial hearing Aug. 31.

Heidi Fenton covers police and courts for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at heidifenton@annarbor.com or 734-623-4673. You also can follow her on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.