In the summer of 2023, a life was tragically cut short on a Saturday afternoon in Kalamazoo, Michigan. On July 8th, 17-year-old Coreleon Antonio Gordon was fatally shot in the Douglass Neighborhood of the city. The incident unfolded around 2:30 p.m. on Summit Park Court, where officers from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety responded to reports of gunfire.
Upon their arrival, they discovered the young male critically wounded.
Emergency medical treatment was administered at the scene by both officers and paramedics before Gordon was rushed to a nearby hospital. Despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead a short time after his arrival. The shooting marked the city's 11th shooting death of the year.
Witnesses at the scene provided crucial descriptions that led to the swift apprehension of a possible suspect in the immediate area. The individual, later identified as 46-year-old Tieshawn Labar Matthews, was detained and subsequently arrested. Matthews was charged with open murder, felony firearm possession, and carrying a concealed weapon. He was lodged at the Kalamazoo County Jail and held without bond.
Court documents later revealed that the day before the fatal shooting, Matthews and Gordon had been involved in a confrontation during which Gordon allegedly pointed a gun at Matthews. Surveillance footage from the apartment complex where the shooting occurred reportedly showed a person matching Matthews' description standing in front of Gordon just before the fatal shots were fired.
Matthews was arraigned on July 11, 2023, and a preliminary examination was scheduled for the beginning of August. During the preliminary hearing, testimony from responding officers and Gordon's loved ones led a judge to determine that there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
