Sidney Ward III

A dispute over eighty dollars in a dice game ended in a double homicide in a Pontiac, Michigan, apartment on the morning of October 8, 2024. The victims were Sidney Ward III, a 20-year-old Black man from Highland Park, and Tyrone Davis Glenn Jr., 24, of Pontiac. According to witnesses, several people had been hanging out at the apartment on North Sanford Street into the early hours. One man, who had reportedly been drinking and playing dice on the sidewalk, became enraged after losing money. He left the gathering but returned around 8:22 a.m. and opened fire.

Deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call about gunshots and arrived to find both men shot multiple times. Ward was pronounced dead at the scene. Glenn was rushed to a local hospital, where he died a short time later. Investigators found evidence that the shooter had attempted to use a potato as a makeshift silencer, but neighbors still heard the shots. Glenn’s cousin, Markeela Jacob, mourned his loss, saying, "He was a son, a brother, a father, a uncle. He was a friend. He was everything. Now, he's gonna be a memory."

The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Davonte Demetri Franklin of Detroit, fled the apartment in an Uber before authorities arrived. He later abandoned the vehicle and ran away near South Boulevard and Woodward Avenue. A swift and widespread investigation led authorities to Franklin approximately twelve hours after the killings. Members of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Team spotted him walking along Eight Mile Road near Evergreen, carrying two grocery bags and a case of beer. He was taken into custody without incident. Investigators later recovered two semi-automatic handguns connected to the case.

Following his arrest, Franklin was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and three counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard commented on the case, stating, "I have been in this a long time, but it is still shocking to see the lack of value some people place on a human life."

In July 2026, following a jury trial in Oakland County Circuit Court, Davonte Demetri Franklin was convicted on all charges related to the double homicide. The next month, in August 2026, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders. He also received a concurrent sentence of 57 months to 10 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm and an additional two years for the felony firearm convictions.