On the early morning of November 23, 2019, a 21-year-old Black male named Zacchaeus Odom was out celebrating a friend's birthday in Detroit, Michigan, a night that would tragically end in violence. Odom had joined a group that included Darius Marquis Thomas, Thomas's girlfriend Ariel Roberts, and her cousin Joey Washington at a local bar. After the celebration, the group piled into Washington's black Ford F-150 truck to head home.
Washington was driving, with Odom, Thomas, and Roberts as passengers. During the ride, a dispute broke out, initially stemming from an earlier argument between Thomas and Roberts at the bar. The tension escalated when Washington asked if the group wanted to stop for food at a Coney Island restaurant. Thomas agreed, but Roberts insisted on going straight home, leading to a heated exchange primarily between Thomas and Washington as the truck moved through the city streets.
The situation turned deadly when gunfire erupted inside the vehicle. Odom was struck and killed during the altercation. His body was later discovered lying on Gilbert Street by a passing Lyft driver who noticed him on the ground and called 911. When police arrived, they found Odom with a piece of auto glass stuck to his back, indicating the chaotic circumstances of his death. Near his body, investigators recovered a water bottle which was later tested for DNA evidence. The forensic analysis linked the DNA on the bottle to Darius Marquis Thomas, placing him at the scene and tying him to the crime.
Following the investigation, Darius Marquis Thomas was arrested and stood trial for Odom's death as well as for his actions against the other occupants of the vehicle. Although a jury acquitted him of first-degree premeditated murder, Thomas was found guilty of second-degree murder. He was also convicted on two counts of assault with intent to commit murder regarding the other individuals in the truck, along with weapons charges including carrying a concealed weapon and felony firearm possession. In August 2023, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions, which carried a sentence of 22 to 40 years in prison for the murder charge and 5 to 20 years for the assault charges.
