In the early morning hours of August 25, 2022, a heated argument on Maine Street in Detroit tragically escalated, ending the life of 32-year-old Dijon Nelson, a male resident of the city. The dispute took a fatal turn around 8:00 a.m. when both Nelson and his acquaintance, Larnell Fredrick Smith, drew firearms. Nelson was discovered on the front steps of a home in the 17800 block of the street, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the shooting quickly led authorities to 34-year-old Larnell Fredrick Smith, also from Detroit. It was determined that he and Nelson knew each other, and their argument had culminated in the deadly shooting. Police recovered three weapons from the scene of the incident, which unfortunately unfolded while children were present inside the home. Smith was subsequently taken into custody, bringing a swift, if somber, development to the case.
Following his arrest, Larnell Fredrick Smith faced serious felony charges. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office charged him with one count of second-degree murder, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and two counts of felony firearm. Smith was arraigned on August 28, 2022, in 36th District Court, where his bond was set at $500,000 cash. The legal process continued with a probable cause conference and a preliminary examination scheduled for September of that year.
When the case went to trial, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on the charge of second-degree murder, resulting in a deadlock on that count. However, the jury did find Smith guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and the associated felony-firearm charge. Consequently, Smith was sentenced to a term of 5 to 25 years in prison for the firearm possession conviction, with an additional consecutive sentence of five years for the felony-firearm conviction. He later appealed the sentence and a restitution order, but the court's decision was ultimately affirmed.
