An evening at the Pablo Davis Elder Living Center in Southwest Detroit turned tragic for 61-year-old Maria Victoria Gonzalez. On a Sunday in October 2013, a fellow resident, 66-year-old Mike Reda, entered the center armed with a long gun and opened fire. Gonzalez and another resident, 59-year-old Deborah M. Socia, were fatally wounded in the attack.
Both women suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.
The violent outburst from Reda was reportedly sparked by a recent breakup with his girlfriend. He blamed Gonzalez and Socia for the end of the relationship, a grievance that escalated to horrific violence. The incident shocked the community of the senior living center. In the aftermath, other residents came forward with unsettling accounts of Reda's prior behavior. Neighbors reported that he would often shoot his gun from his balcony into a nearby cemetery and had threatened others, including one man with a box cutter. Despite these complaints and multiple police reports, residents felt that the management of the living center had not taken adequate action to address the escalating threat posed by Reda.
The legal process moved swiftly. Mike Reda was arrested and faced multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder and felony murder. He was convicted of these charges. A judge subsequently handed down two mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole, ensuring he would spend the rest of his life in prison for the murders of Maria Gonzalez and Deborah Socia. In the wake of the criminal proceedings, the family of Maria Gonzalez filed a lawsuit against the Pablo Davis Elder Living Center and its management company. The lawsuit alleged that the center was aware that Reda possessed a rifle on the premises and had been warned by other tenants about his dangerous behavior, including firing the weapon into the cemetery behind the complex.
