In 2015, on the east side of Detroit, a violent encounter unfolded that resulted in the deaths of two people, one of whom was an innocent teenager. Edwin Mills, a 32-year-old male and a leader in the '6 Mile Chedda Grove' street gang, was with a fellow gang member, Carlo Wilson, when they spotted a rival. The rival was in a car outside of a market, and the sight prompted Mills and Wilson to open fire on the vehicle.
The hail of bullets killed the intended target and also struck and
killed a 13-year-old bystander who was a passenger in the car. The gunfire did not stop there, as two other children who had been sitting on the hood of the car were seriously injured in the attack. The shooting was part of a pattern of violence for the 6 Mile Chedda Grove gang, an organization known for its involvement in murders, assaults, robberies, and drug trafficking throughout the Detroit metropolitan area and beyond. The gang frequently used violence to settle scores with rivals and for members to climb the ranks within the organization.
Following an investigation by the FBI, Edwin Mills and ten other members of his gang were indicted in 2016 on racketeering offenses. When authorities arrested Mills, a search of his residence uncovered a small arsenal, including two AK-47 rifles, a pistol, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and multiple loaded magazines, some of which were taped together for faster reloading.
In October 2022, Edwin Mills pleaded guilty to his role in the 2015 murders as part of a racketeering conspiracy. His co-conspirator, Carlo Wilson, also pleaded guilty to the murders and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. In May 2023, Mills, the last of the eleven indicted gang members to be convicted, was also sentenced to 25 years in prison, bringing a close to the lengthy case against the violent street gang.
