Jacob Hills, an 18-year-old male from Grand Blanc, Michigan, was found dead in the basement of a Detroit apartment building in late July 2022. A recent high school graduate with aspirations of joining the National Guard, Hills had traveled to Detroit on a Saturday evening to attend a party. His family grew concerned when they were unable to contact him, and they tracked his phone to Dearborn Heights, where they discovered his abandoned car and phone.
The search for the missing teen ended
tragically when his father received an anonymous phone call directing him to a residence on West Warren Avenue in Detroit. Acting on this tip, Detroit police discovered Jacob Hills' body in the basement of the apartment building on the morning of July 24, 2022. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the homicide quickly focused on Avion Sanders, a 23-year-old man from Westland. It's believed that Hills and Sanders met at the party and later went to the apartment complex. According to prosecutors, Hills had shown Sanders an AR-15 rifle that he had recently purchased. It is alleged that Sanders then fatally shot Hills, stole the rifle and the victim's vehicle, which he later abandoned at a hookah lounge in Dearborn Heights. Hills' mother believes her son was 'lured' to Detroit because of the new gun and money he had from his graduation.
Avion Sanders was apprehended by Detroit Police on August 9, 2022, and subsequently faced a litany of charges, including first-degree murder, felony murder, larceny, and multiple firearm offenses. At the time of the murder, Sanders already had an outstanding warrant for his arrest for failing to appear for sentencing on a separate resisting and obstructing charge. In November 2023, a jury found Avion Sanders guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Jacob Hills.
During the sentencing, Jacob's mother, Sadie Hills, shared that her son had even driven an intoxicated Sanders home and helped him inside on the night of the murder, underscoring the kindness that she said defined him. She described the immense pain her family endured throughout the ordeal and the emotional rollercoaster of the past year and a half.
