Detroit man charged with fatally shooting two over $80 gambling loss

Posted by Admin October 12, 2024 Gambling

Detroit man charged with fatally shooting two over gambling loss

A Detroit man accused of fatally shooting two men Tuesday after losing $80 in a dice game was arraigned Saturday on several charges including first-degree murder.

Davonte Demetri Franklin, 32, is being held without bond in the Oakland County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder, felon in possession of a firearm and three counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to a press release Saturday from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

More: Man accused of fatally shooting 2 over Pontiac dice game arrested

Franklin is charged in the slaying of Sidney Ward III, 20, of Highland Park, and Tyrone Davis Glenn Jr., 24, of Pontiac. 52-1 District Court Magistrate Cody Ellwanger set an Oct. 22 court date for Franklin in 50th District Court in Pontiac.

“I have been in this a long time, but it is still shocking to see the lack of value some people place on a human life,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a release Tuesday.

The incident happened at 8:22 a.m. Tuesday in an apartment in the 100 block of North Sanford Street near Fiddis Avenue in Pontiac, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies found two men had been shot multiple times. Ward III was pronounced dead at the scene. First responders took the other victim, Glenn Jr., to a hospital. The 24-year-old Pontiac resident died at the hospital a short time later.

Franklin fled from the apartment and was traveling on South Boulevard in an Uber, but before the vehicle could be found, the suspect had run away near South Boulevard and Woodward Avenue, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Detectives conducted surveillance at a variety of locations and spotted the suspect walking on the sidewalk on Eight Mile Road.

The man was arrested on 8 Mile Road and Evergreen Road in Southfield about 12 hours after the incident by members of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Team and the Gun Violence Task Force. Detectives recovered two semi-automatic handguns during their investigation.

Detectives were assisted in the case by Detroit and Southfield police and special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office reported 21 homicide arrests in Pontiac in 2022, the most recent year for which Michigan Incident Crime Reporting data is available. There were 639 reported incidents of homicide across the state of Michigan that year, according to MICR.

Of those 639 reported homicide incidents, local law enforcement agencies either made arrests in or could not make arrests in only 310 incidents, or 48.5% of the total reported incidents, according to MICR.