An afternoon walk on a spring day turned tragic for William Shelton, an 18-year-old Black male from Detroit. On May 17, 2024, at approximately 12:13 p.m., Shelton was walking east on Whittier Street, near the intersection of Roxbury Street on the city's east side, when a vehicle approached. Multiple gunshots were fired from the moving car, striking Shelton several times.
The vehicle then sped away from the scene, leaving the young man critically injured on the sidewalk.
Detroit police officers were the first to arrive, finding Shelton with multiple gunshot wounds. Paramedics quickly transported him to a nearby hospital, but his injuries proved to be too severe, and he was pronounced dead. The sudden violence of the act left the community in shock and spurred an immediate investigation by the Detroit Police Department. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear to authorities.
The investigation moved swiftly, and just three days later, on May 20, 2024, police arrested a suspect in the case. Tasean Lamarean Johnson, a 19-year-old from the neighboring city of Eastpointe, was taken into custody. Following the arrest, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office brought a series of serious charges against him. These charges included second-degree murder, discharge from a moving vehicle causing death, carrying a concealed weapon, lying to a peace officer, and two counts of felony firearm.
Johnson was formally arraigned on May 23, 2024, in the 36th District Court. During this initial court appearance, a bond was set at $750,000 cash/surety. The magistrate also stipulated that should Johnson be released on bond, he would be required to wear a GPS tether and remain under house arrest. A series of court dates were scheduled to follow, including a probable cause conference on May 30 and a preliminary examination on June 4, 2024, to determine if there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. The outcome of these later proceedings has not been made publicly available.
