Christine Marie Cambric was a 53-year-old White woman from Lansing, Michigan, known for her spunky and energetic personality. A graduate of Lansing Community College's nursing school, she worked as an in-home nurse and as a waitress at Zeus' Coney Island, where she was affectionately called "Red." Christine was an active person who enjoyed exercise, kayaking, and annual trips with her friends. She was a mother who was deeply loved by her family and community.
On the evening of April 18, 2024, a domestic situation at the home Christine shared with her boyfriend escalated into a tragedy. Around 9:30 p.m., Lansing police responded to a report of a shooting at a residence on the 500 block of Woodrow Avenue. Inside, they discovered the bodies of Christine and her 50-year-old cousin, Jason Deon McKenzie.
Both had been shot and killed in the basement with an assault-style rifle.
The investigation immediately focused on Christine's longtime on-again, off-again boyfriend, Dennis Joshua Whaley, then 51. After the shooting, Whaley fled the scene in Christine's car, prompting a manhunt. Three days later, on the evening of Sunday, April 21, Whaley called the police to turn himself in. He was arrested without incident in the area of Crego Park and later showed officers where he had hidden the rifle. Authorities noted that an arrest warrant for Whaley for a prior domestic assault on Christine had been approved in January 2024 but had never been served.
Whaley was charged with two counts of open murder and multiple felony firearm offenses. During his trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the killings were a premeditated act of jealousy. Four days before the shooting, Whaley had sent a social media message to McKenzie's girlfriend, complaining that the cousins were acting "like they are a couple" and threatening to "off" McKenzie. He also referred to a "succubus" who needed "to be gone or bad things will happen."
Taking the stand in his own defense, Whaley claimed the shooting was an accident. He testified that McKenzie had rushed at him and grabbed the barrel of the rifle, causing it to fire multiple rounds. He maintained that he never intended to pull the trigger.
In September 2025, a jury found Dennis Whaley guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and felony firearm possession. On December 12, 2025, Ingham County Circuit Judge Wanda Stokes sentenced him to 33 years and four months to 50 years in prison for the murders. He received an additional mandatory two-year sentence for the firearm charge, which must be served first. In her sentencing, the judge noted that she exceeded state guidelines because the victims were "helpless and unarmed" and had met a "merciless death." The case was closed with this conviction and sentencing in December 2025.
