In the early hours of March 16, 2025, a large gathering on Shoppers Lane near South Riverview Drive in Parchment turned chaotic when gunfire erupted and the night’s noise suddenly gave way to panic. Xzavier D. Harris, a 21-year-old Black male from Kalamazoo, was found inside a building with a gunshot wound as officers rushed in and first aid began amid the confusion. He was taken to a nearby hospital, but he did not survive.
As detectives worked to untangle what happened, investigators described the shooting as a targeted event and said Harris and the person or people responsible were believed to have known each other. In the days after the killing, police treated it as a homicide investigation, appealing for witnesses and information from those who had been at the gathering when the shots were fired.
Months later, the case moved from unanswered questions toward a named suspect. Prosecutors charged Richard Lee Rogers Jr., described in reports as 19 at the time, with open murder along with felony firearm and carrying a concealed weapon, and he was denied bond as the case proceeded in court. Even with those charges filed, officials indicated the investigation remained active.
The strain surrounding the case surfaced publicly during court proceedings that followed. After a probable-cause conference for Rogers, a fight broke out at the Pratt Courthouse between relatives tied to both families, drawing a heavy law-enforcement response inside the building. Deputies arrested three people in connection with that confrontation—two for resisting and obstructing police and another for assault—an eruption that underscored how raw the aftermath remained long after the shooting itself.
