Articles Posted in Murder

The Michigan Supreme Court made a directive to the state Court of Appeals review the conviction of a man in a murder-for-hire case. This man was convicted despite another man confessing to the killing as a hit man. The 40-year-old man was convicted of first-degree murder back in 2005. This decision comes on the heels of a 2018 evidentiary hearing where the person purporting to be the true killer gave recorded testimony that he committed the murder, not the man who was convicted.

Original Case Details

Thelonious Searcy was convicted for the 2004 murder of Jamal Segers back in 2005. Vincent Smothers, who is in prison after confessing to eight different murders, came forward in multiple affidavits that he killed Segers. During an evidentiary hearing in 2018, Smothers made this same confession in court. Smothers testified that the killing happened close to Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport in Detroit. Smothers intended to go to what was called the “Black Party,” which was a fundraiser for the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. This fundraiser was being held inside the airport. Smothers said that the party was attended by multiple drug dealers. On the way to the fundraiser, Smothers saw Segers in congested traffic and decided that was his opportunity to rob him. He parked his car at a gas station and Smothers, along with another man walked towards Segers’ car and shot up the back of the car, killing Segers and another man inside the car. While Smothers and his partner tried to escape, an unmarked police car pulled up. A subsequent crash and shootout happened. But Smothers and his partner escaped from the police on that day.

Just before the new year, a 15-year-old girl allegedly shot and stabbed her mother along with her mother’s boyfriend, according to news reports at The New York Times. The girl, Destiny Garcia, is charged with the murder of her mother, 38-year-old Rosie Sanchez, and 40-year-old Anderson Nunez, Sanchez’s boyfriend. The bodies were discovered a few days later when police were brought to the apartment the couple shared on Batchelder Street in Brooklyn.

Garcia’s mother sustained multiple gunshot wounds, and was found in an easy chair; her boyfriend had both gunshot and stab wounds, and was discovered on the floor. The girl has been charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of second-degree murder.

Prosecutors said that Garcia had confessed to the murders on videotape; it was also revealed that another individual helped her in the killings. Garcia told detectives that her actions were self-defense, and that she had been abused physically by her mother in the past.

On Monday November 23, a man’s body was found in his own burning home in Romulus; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The man was 91-year-old Paul Monchnik, a retired television repairman. According to a news report at the Detroit Free Press, authorities aren’t certain whether Monchnik died due to the fire, or the beating he apparently took before the house was set ablaze. When his body was discovered, Monchnik was not only badly burned, but had suffered a serious head injury as well.

A Detroit teen, 17-year-old George Stewart, has been arrested in the incident and faces charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, and arson. His probable cause hearing is scheduled for December 3, and a preliminary exam has been set for December 10.

Stewart’s grandfather, George Stewart Jr., turned his grandson in to police for questioning, however he said that he hoped and prayed the younger Stewart had nothing to do with the murder. Monchnik was the elder Stewart’s next door neighbor. The grandfather said that until about four days prior to the fire and beating, his grandson had lived in Romulus as well.

Recently, a 5-year-old Port Huron girl died due to what authorities believe was malnutrition, according to a news article at Mlive.com. Police received a call that Mackenzie Maison was unresponsive in her home. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Reports indicate that two children in the home, both girls ages 3 and 5, were dehydrated, malnourished, and emaciated. Authorities also say there were signs of physical abuse on the two young girls. Port Huron Public Safety Director Michael Reaves said that there were also two boys living at the home, and that they appeared to be in fine condition, with no signs of neglect or abuse. Mackenzie’s father and stepmother are now accused of murder.

Andrew Maison, 25, and Hilery Maison, 27, were arraigned on criminal charges on Friday, May 29. Each is charged with two counts of first-degree child abuse, two counts of torture, and one count of open murder. The Maison’s probable cause hearing is scheduled for June 9. Reaves said that while the parents indicated the children had a reluctance to eat, the physical appearance of the two girls was not in line with what would be considered children who were simply picky eaters or on the thin side.