On the evening of April 9, 2012, DaJuan Malik Thomas, a 38-year-old father of five, had just finished a day's work with his step-father in their home improvement business. He made a stop at a party store on West McNichols Road at West Outer Drive in Detroit. As he exited the convenience store after purchasing a beverage, an unknown individual who had been waiting outside approached him and fatally shot him. Thomas was shot twice in the back at approximately 7:00 p.m. The gunman then fled the scene on foot.
The investigation into DaJuan Thomas's murder led police to review video surveillance from the area. The footage revealed that a blue Crown Victoria had dropped off the shooter and picked him up after the killing. While the driver and the shooter were not identifiable in the video, the vehicle had several distinct features, including missing front hubcaps, custom chrome pieces on the door posts, and a rear body that had been replaced with that of a Mercury Grand Marquis. A significant clue captured by one of the cameras was that the shooter was wearing a black Chicago Bulls cap.
The day after the shooting, a man named Everege Vernor Dickens reported to police that his vehicle had been shot at on the expressway. The car he was driving, a 1999 Ford Crown Victoria, matched the unique description of the getaway car used in Thomas's murder. Upon impounding the vehicle, investigators discovered a black Chicago Bulls cap in the trunk. Although Dickens was not immediately charged, he was later arrested on August 30, 2013, for his role in the homicide. While incarcerated on unrelated charges before his arrest for the murder, Dickens had a recorded phone conversation with the mother of his child, instructing her not to speak to the police about the shooting and to dispose of a coat that a friend would bring her.
Everege Vernor Dickens was tried for his involvement in the crime. A jury convicted him of first-degree felony murder, assault with intent to rob while armed, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony for his role as the getaway driver. The individual who shot DaJuan Thomas has never been identified. In the wake of his death, Thomas's family appealed to the public for any information that could lead to the arrest of the shooter, and Crime Stoppers of Michigan offered a cash reward.
