Charlie Isaac Odneal, a 42-year-old Black man from Pontiac, Michigan, was a hardworking father of five who was known to many as "Isaac." A graduate of the Pontiac School District, where he was an outstanding basketball player, he worked as a production worker at Bridgewater Interiors. His obituary described him as someone who loved music and having fun, but most enjoyed spending time with his three sons and two daughters.
On the evening of Tuesday, March 5, 2024, an argument broke out
between Odneal and an acquaintance outside the Night Riders Motorcycle Club on Raeburn and Sanford streets in Pontiac. Around 9:15 p.m., the dispute escalated, and Odneal was shot. He was transported to a local hospital in a private vehicle but succumbed to his injuries, dying in the early hours of March 6.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office immediately began investigating. Detectives, assisted by a special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, quickly identified a suspect. The Sheriff’s Fugitive Apprehension Team located the man, 55-year-old Malcolm Robert Boykin of Pontiac, at a nearby motel. He was arrested without incident at approximately 4:40 a.m. on March 6, just hours before Odneal died.
Boykin was charged with second-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, and multiple counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was held without bond at the Oakland County Jail as his case proceeded to trial.
Following a jury trial in Oakland County Circuit Court, Malcolm Boykin was convicted on all charges on April 1, 2025. On May 14, 2025, a judge sentenced him to serve 60 to 90 years in prison for the second-degree murder of Charlie Odneal. Boykin also received a consecutive 10-year sentence for a firearms charge, as well as concurrent sentences for assault with intent to murder and other weapons-related crimes. With this conviction and sentencing, the case was closed as of May 2025.
