By Frank Witsil
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy holds a press conference to announce murder charges in several cases involving Deangelo Martin at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit, Mich., Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. (Photo: Kathleen Galligan, Detroit Free Press)
A 34-year-old Detroit man who had been suspected since June of multiple slayings was charged Wednesday with killing four women on the east side.
It was an announcement that many residents had been waiting for, as the deaths stoked fear and renewed calls from top officials to rid the city of abandoned and blighted property.
In a crowded conference room at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Wednesday that predators choose victims who they think won’t fight back, who no one cares about and who won’t be missed.
“But they’re wrong,” she said, looking into TV cameras and flanked by Detroit Police Chief James Craig and other top law enforcement officials who worked on the case. “We work tirelessly to bring them some modicum of justice and dignity.”
Deangelo Martin faces eight counts, including first-degree premeditated murder, for the deaths of Annetta Nelson, 57; Nancy Harrison, 52; Trevesene Ellis, 55, and Tamara Jones, 55.
All of the bodies were found face down in vacant homes, with used condoms nearby.
Worthy said her office was deliberative in putting together a case against Martin, but declined to offer a motive for the killings or any information about what evidence —such as DNA — might link Martin to the women.
Martin already faces four counts of criminal sexual conduct and one count of assault with intent to murder in a separate case.
When arraigned in June, Martin’s jail photo showed a bandage over his right eye.
The killings sparked a door-to-door dragnet for other victims who may have been left in abandoned homes and a killer who police said was targeting women — sex workers, according to Chief Craig — in their 50s.
On Wednesday, Craig acknowledged his previous reference to sex workers created controversy.
But Craig said he no longer wanted to discuss that part of the case, adding that before Martin had been identified and arrested, the police were trying to “reach out to a segment of our community that is silent.”
Social media rumors had been developing since mid-May that there was a serial killer in downtown Detroit, but, at the time, the police department repudiated them, saying, “there is false information circulating” and “this is not true.”
Martin also was charged on July 16 and July 23 in two criminal sexual conduct cases.
Since then, investigators have sought to connect Martin to the east-side slayings.
Nelson’s body was found at 4:25 a.m. on Feb. 26, 2018, by a 43-year man who happened to be in a vacant home on the 11620 block of Winthrop, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The victim was on the floor with blood on her face. The man carried her body outside and flagged down police. The Wayne County Medical Examiner determined the death to be a blunt force trauma homicide.
Harrison’s body was found in the 20070 block of Coventry on March 19, 2019, by a man who had gone into a vacant house to smoke marijuana, according to the prosecutor. The medical examiner pointed to blunt force trauma in this case, too.
Police uncovered Ellis’ body a few days later, on March 24, on the 13700 block of Linnhurst. But her body was so badly decomposed, the medical examiner was unable to determine a cause or manner of death.
Then, at 5:10 a.m., on June 5, a 59-year-old man found Jones’ body inside a vacant house in the 3690 block of Mack Ave. The medical examiner was unable to determine a cause or manner of death because the body had been too decomposed.
Authorities said Martin may be linked to two other deaths, and are still investigating.
Source: Detroit Free Press
