On the evening of January 7, 2010, violence erupted on the west side of Detroit, claiming the lives of two young men. Jamail Sanders, a 20-year-old Black / African American male, was in the company of another man, Hassan Desassure, also 20 years of age. The pair were situated inside a burgundy, four-door 2001 Ford Taurus parked in the 7400 block of Brace Street, a residential area near Warren Avenue and the Southfield Freeway.
While the two men were inside the vehicle, they were ambushed
by an unknown assailant. Reports indicate that the shooter approached the Ford Taurus and opened fire, fatally wounding both Sanders and Desassure. Following the attack, the perpetrator fled the scene in a silver Dodge Stratus, speeding away from the location before law enforcement could arrive. When authorities reached the scene, they discovered the victims inside the car, but they had already succumbed to their injuries.
Despite the specific description of the getaway vehicle, the investigation into the double homicide has not yielded an arrest. For years following the incident, the case remained classified as an unsolved homicide by Detroit authorities and Crime Stoppers, who offered a cash reward for information leading to the person or persons responsible. No suspects have been publicly named or charged in connection with the deaths of Jamail Sanders and Hassan Desassure, leaving the case cold and the families without legal closure.
