Articles Posted in Violent Crime

In August of last year, 33-year-old Martez Terrill Gardner of Ypsilanti Township reportedly shot a man at a Citgo gas station as the man was trying to run away after the men had become involved in an argument who one witness said was over a woman. Gardner was charged with first-degree premeditated murder initially, but has now accepted a plea deal in which he pleaded no contest to second-degree murder.

Gardner was also charged with carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, possessing a firearm as a felon, possessing ammunition as a felon, three counts of felony firearm, and illegally carrying a concealed weapon.

Gardner is a habitual offender, having served time for unarmed robbery, malicious destruction of fire or police property, and probation for other criminal charges. Under the plea agreement his habitual status and first-degree murder charge will be dismissed at sentencing. After pleading no contest, he will serve 30 to 55 years for the death of 25-year-old Derius James.

In December of last year, Michael Robert Young, 27 and a former supervisor at Aramark was found guilty of solicitation to commit assault with intent to cause great bodily harm. Young, of Kincheloe, was recently sentenced and now faces up to five years in prison for the felony conviction.

According to news reports, Young was employed by Aramark at Kinross Correctional Facility when he allegedly solicited an inmate to assault another inmate who Young said was incarcerated for murdering one of his relatives. The inmate Young allegedly wanted to harm was located at a different correctional facility. An article at The Detroit News stated that Young gave the inmate the other inmate’s name, location, prisoner number, and other details.

State officials revealed in a statement that the inmate Young was attempting to solicit told the Michigan Department of Corrections about Young’s plot. Young was charged in May of 2015, and was sentenced this month.

On Tuesday November 3, Dominick Wright was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma following a tip Crime Stoppers in Flint received which led them to Wright, a man wanted for allegedly shooting and killing Jermaine Moore in May of this year.

The Crime Stoppers agency was offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that would lead to Wright’s arrest, and while numerous tips were received, director Julie Lopez said one in particular led them to find the fugitive more than 900 miles away.

The shooting took place at just after 8:30 in the evening on May 27, as people gathered to mourn a man at a nearby park who had passed away after suffering a heart attack. Authorities believe Wright shot 35-year-old Jermaine Moore when the two became involved in a dispute over a parking spot.

On Wednesday November 4, a woman was allegedly robbed of her purse at Delaware Street SE and South Division Avenue in Grand Rapids by two young men who used a BB gun to frighten the woman, who was not injured.

According to a news article a Mlive.com, the two men, who are cousins, were apprehended just a few minutes later after the woman called police; they were riding bicycles when police spotted one of the suspects who appeared to have a BB gun in the pocket of his sweatshirt. Grand Rapids Police Captain Vincent Reilly said the older cousin, who is 24, told police he was on probation for a prior armed robbery offense. The younger cousin had marijuana in his possession, according to Reilly.

The two cousins who were arrested. 20-year-old Moises Espino is charged with one count of armed robbery and possession of marijuana. 24-year-old Ezra Osorio-Espino is charged with armed robbery as a second-time habitual offender. Both were held on $100,000 bond. Police believe the cousins may have been involved in a similar incident earlier in the evening in which two men on bicycles attempted to steal a college student’s backpack.