On the evening of June 24, 2026, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet of a Detroit neighborhood, leaving a young man dead and a child wounded. Willie Key, a 23-year-old man, was fatally shot on the city's west side, in the area of Burgess Street between I-96 and Fenkell. The violence of that evening also left his seven-year-old nephew, Jacquees Moore, with multiple gunshot wounds.
The young boy was rushed to the hospital for treatment of his serious injuries.
The investigation into the shooting quickly pointed to a dispute over a stolen piece of jewelry. According to authorities, the incident may have stemmed from a conflict over a chain. In the days following the shooting, two men with prior felony convictions were taken into custody and faced federal charges. One of the men, 32-year-old Lonnie Moore, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. It was reported that Moore had allegedly made threats to the victims via a FaceTime call shortly before the fatal encounter. Another man, Robert Irvin, was also arrested and faced the same federal charge after investigators discovered images of an AR-style rifle on his phone. The caliber of the weapon in the photos matched the shell casings that were recovered from the scene of the crime.
While both Lonnie Moore and Robert Irvin were charged in connection with the firearms believed to be involved in the incident, the investigation into Willie Key's death was reported to be ongoing. The initial news reports following the arrests did not indicate that either man had been formally charged with murder. The narrative of this case, as it stands from the available information, is one of a neighborhood grappling with the consequences of violence, and a family left to mourn the loss of a young man while their child recovers from a traumatic event. The broader legal outcome concerning the direct responsibility for Willie Key's death remains an unanswered question in the public record.
