Midway through 2024, 16 people have lost their lives from reported homicides that happened in Oakland County, up more than 30 percent compared to this time in 2023, when 12 people had been murdered.
Victims include very young children — ages 1 and 3 — a 15-year-old, and a 79-year-old grandfather. Two others died in murder-suicides.
Arrests have been made in all but two cases.
So far this year, Pontiac leads the county with seven cases. Other Oakland County communities were homicides occurred include Farmington Hills with three cases, Southfield with two, and one each in Wixom, Madison Heights and Royal Oak Township.
The cases, from the most recent:
Zavieion Thomas
Zavieion Thomas, 3, died April 25 in Pontiac. His mother, Latonya Shante Thomas, 27, is held in the Oakland County Jail with bond set at $1 million, charged for the death. According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the child was unresponsive when deputies responded to a 911 call for help at a home in the 100 block of Perry Place — and saw Thomas attempting to perform CPR on him. Paramedics transported the child to an area hospital where he was ultimately pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.
Thomas is scheduled for a preliminary exam on Sept. 6 in 50th District Court.
Maurice Elmore
Maurice Elmore died June 10, several days after he was reportedly assaulted and robbed while walking near Telegraph and Franklin roads in Southfield. Elmore, 79, sustained injuries to the head and elsewhere when he was attacked on May 30, police said.
Stavon Corey Lindsay, 26, of Southfield is facing charges of homicide, assault and battery, malicious destruction of a building and malicious destruction of personal property for the attack.
According to Southfield police, Elmore was attacked on May 30 while walking near Telegraph and Franklin roads, shortly after 11:30 p.m. Elmore had been approached from behind and struck head, then after he fell to the ground he was punched and kicked. The assailant, who police say is Lindsay, stole Elmore’s cell phone and wallet.
Elmore died while hospitalized for his injuries. The Oakland County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide due to blunt force trauma, police said.
Lindsay was arrested on June 12. Elmore’s cell phone and wallet were recovered, police said.
Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren said Lindsay is bipolar and schizophrenic. A few days ago, 46th District Judge Shelia Johnson referred Lindsay for a competency evaluation. A review hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25.
Ricky Williams III
Ricky Williams III died May 25 after being fatally shot at an apartment home in Farmington Hills.
Williams’ brother, Fredrick Logan, 30 is charged with the slaying which reportedly stemmed from an argument between the two men.
According to Farmington Hills Police Chief Jeff King, the men’s mother called 911 to report her sons were involved in an argument which led to the older one shooting the younger one at her home on Saratoga Circle, near 11 Mile and Halsted roads. Logan fled the scene but was arrested the next day in Warren, with assistance from police there.
Williams, 28, was transported to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
Logan’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 12.
McKinley Hardy
McKinley Hardy, 1, died June 1 after reportedly being beaten at an apartment home in Wixom. Christopher Savage, 24, the boyfriend of McKinley’s mother, is charged with felony murder and first-degree child abuse for the death.
According to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, police were called to a home in the 30000 block of Tamarack Drive on reports that a child was unresponsive. They arrived to find Savage and the baby’s mother performing CPR on her.
The prosecutor’s office said McKinley’s mother had left the baby in the care of Savage, who was the only one with the child when she was injured. McKinley died at Children’s Hospital in Detroit. The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office said the infant had multiple injuries throughout her body.
Savage’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 10.
Charnae Jenkins
Charnae Jenkins, 33, was killed during what officials said was a domestic dispute that ended in murder-suicide on May 12 in Pontiac.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, Jenkins was fatally shot by Alvin Dewayne Hall, Jr., 29 at a home in the 1200 block of Maurer. Hall then killed himself.
Deputies found the bodies of Jenkins and Hall in the hallway of the residence, responding there to a 911 call reporting two people were dead inside the home, at around 5:35 p.m., the sheriff’s office said.
A handgun and two spent shell casings were found on the hallway floor near Hall’s hand, the sheriff’s office said.
Detectives subsequently learned Jenkins and Hall had been embroiled in an ongoing domestic dispute, the sheriff’s office said.
Gregory Allen Copeland
Gregory Allen Copeland died April 27 after being stabbed several times in the chest at his home in Pontiac. He was 69.
Charged in Copeland’s slaying is 31-year-old Juan Ramirez, Jr., who reportedly was in a relationship with Copeland’s niece. Ramirez was arrested May 3 at a Dallas, Texas bus station.
The fatal stabbing happened at Copeland’s home in the 80 block of Ivy Street. Deputies responding to a report of a man chasing a woman with a knife found Copeland in the basement, with multiple stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ramirez’s next court day is scheduled for July 30.
Rayjon Tyree Barnes
Rayjon Tyree Barnes, 24, was found fatally shot in Pontiac on April 10 outside a residence in the North Hill Farms apartment complex.
Two other Pontiac men in their 20s were shot in their legs, treated at a local hospital and released, the sheriff’s office said. Witnesses reportedly told investigators that before the shooting, people had been partying in the apartment complex’s parking lot and an argument broke out.
.Barnes was shot in front of a residence at 72 Fireside Lane in the North Hill Farms apartment complex, shortly before 1 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Crime Stoppers offers a $2,500 reward for information that leads to an arrest for the slaying. Tipsters remain anonymous
To leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers, call 1-800-SPEAK-UP or go to the website www.1800speakup.org.
Candace Hawkins
Candace Hawkins, 42, was found dead in a Madison Heights home that had been set on fire on March 27. According to police, she was slain by her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Spicer, 40, at his home on West Harding Street in a murder-suicide.
Both bodies had stab wounds, police said. The Madison Heights fire marshal said Spicer had started the fire to conceal homicide.
Octavious Javon Perkins
Octavious Javon Perkins died March 9 after being shot while at the Baymont Inn in Royal Oak Township.
Perkins, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jason McCullough, 25, of Detroit, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder for the death. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 6
Charlie Isaac Odneal
Charlie Isaac Odneal, 42, of Pontiac, died March 6 at an area hospital, several hours after he was shot outside the Night Riders Motorcycle Club in Pontiac.
Malcolm Robert Boykin is charged with second-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon and multiple counts of felony firearm. According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, an argument between the two men, who were acquaintances, led to the shooting, Boykin was arrested the day after the shooting at a motel near the motorcycle club.
Boykin’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 16.
Cornelius Jones
Cornelius Jones, 33, died Feb. 21 after being shot at an apartment in Pontiac, allegedly over a spitting incident.
Sadarie Donalson and Dewaun Benion face charges in connection with homicide: Donalson, the alleged shooter, is charged with second-degree murder, resisting/obstructing/assaulting a police officer and weapons-related crimes. Donalson’s alleged accomplice, 22-year-old Dewaun Benion, is charged with solicitation-assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. Both are scheduled for trial on Aug. 26.
Tyler Johnson
Tyler Johnson of Ferndale was fatally shot at the Westin Southfield Detroit hotel on Feb. 11 and died four days later while hospitalized.. He was 15.
So far, no one has been charged with the homicide.
Tyler was a sophomore at Loyola High School in Detroit.
Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest for the slaying.
According to Southfield police, an adult had rented a room in the hotel, located near Northwestern Highway and 10 Mile Road, and left a group of teens there, including Tyler, unsupervised. Not long after the shooting, a 15-year-old boy from Detroit who was found with a gun at the hotel was taken into custody and subsequently held at Children’s Village, Oakland County’s juvenile facility.
To make an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers, call 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
Json Markell Hunt
Json Markell Hunt, 27, of Clinton Township was fatally shot Jan.14 at a business in the 400 block of West Huron Street in Pontiac. Another man, reportedly Hunt’s cousin, was also hit by the gunfire and survived.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said deputies called to the scene at around 4 p.m. that day were met in the parking lot by the cousin who told them he had been shot by an unknown assailant, and that Hunt was inside the business and had also been shot.
Charged in the homicide is Jermaine Jackson. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 22. Ja-Vontay Boykin is charged with accessory after the fact and lying to police. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 12.
Ryan Ambrosio, Jennifer Dormitorio Ambrosio
Ryan Ambrosio, 45, and Jennifer Dormitorio Ambrosio, 43, of Farmington Hills, died Jan. 6 in Southfield after a driver fleeing police and traveling the wrong way on M-10 slammed into their vehicle. The Ambrosios were the parents of six young children.
Angel Melendez-Ortiz, a 35-year-old resident of Romulus, is charged with two counts each of second-degree murder, first-degree fleeing and eluding, reckless driving causing death, and driving while license suspended/revoked causing death.
Prosecutors say Melendez-Ortiz was speeding in a stolen pickup truck — driving the wrong way on M-10 with the lights off while being pursued by Michigan State Police — when he crashed into the Ambrosios’ GMC Terrain. Ryan and Jennifer Ambrosio were pronounced dead at the scene.
Melendez-Oritz’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 29.
Also of note:
Darrien Louis Bragg, 23, of Pontiac, died on June 11 after he suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest. The bullet traveled through Bragg’s body and struck his 23-year-old girlfriend in the abdomen. She survived the shooting.
Investigators said the gunfire happened in a convenience store on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in Pontiac while the shooter was being assaulted by Bragg and his girlfriend, according to witnesses. The shooter is reportedly the former boyfriend of the injured woman.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office did not issue charges for the shooting.