Darryl Yarber

In the Burton Heights neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan, a simmering resentment erupted into deadly violence, ending the life of Darryl Yarber, a 32-year-old Black man. On the afternoon of November 6, 2023, Yarber was found shot and killed in the 2000 block of Horton Avenue SE. His death was the third homicide in the neighborhood that day, but investigators determined his killing was a separate and unrelated incident. An autopsy confirmed he died from gunshot wounds.

For over a year, the Grand Rapids Police Department worked to piece together the events that led to Yarber's death. Through a painstaking review of surveillance footage, social media accounts, cellphone records, and numerous interviews, detectives uncovered what they believed was a targeted execution born from a long-standing feud. The motive appeared to be rooted in retaliation. According to witness testimony, one of the suspects, Dominike Sterling, was enraged after learning that Yarber had cooperated with authorities in a 2017 bank robbery case and had labeled him a "rat" or a "snitch."

In January 2025, authorities announced a breakthrough with the arrests of two men. Dominike Sterling, then 33, was charged with first-degree murder as the alleged shooter. His co-defendant, 26-year-old Tyriq Bettison, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Investigators alleged that Bettison was with Yarber on the day of the shooting and provided updates on his location to Sterling and others involved in the premeditated plot. Police believed at least five people conspired in the murder, including Dominike's brother, Samuel Sterling, who was reportedly in the vehicle with the suspects but was killed in a separate incident before he could be charged.

The case against the two men moved through the courts. In June 2025, a district judge ruled there was sufficient evidence for them to stand trial. During preliminary hearings, Sterling's ex-girlfriend testified that he had taken her 9-millimeter handgun, believed to be the murder weapon, just days before the shooting. The prosecution laid out its theory of a coordinated ambush, where Bettison allegedly lured Yarber to the Horton Avenue location where Sterling was waiting to shoot him repeatedly. Following these hearings, Dominike Sterling's case went to trial. In December 2025, a jury found him guilty of murder. He was sentenced in February 2026 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The following month, in March 2026, the trial for his co-defendant, Tyriq Bettison, began on a charge of first-degree murder.