On a Saturday night in Detroit, 77-year-old Lewis Putrus was leaving D & D Liquor Land on Schoolcraft after 11 p.m. when his life was tragically cut short. The date was September 21, 2019, and as he exited the business, which was owned by his brother, he was ambushed by two armed individuals. The assailants robbed Putrus and then shot him, inflicting wounds that would prove to be fatal.
The entire horrific event was captured by the liquor store's parking lot surveillance cameras.
The video footage showed two men, both described as Black males, carrying out the attack. One of the suspects was wearing a light-colored baseball hat with a white brim, a dark hooded jacket with light-colored stripes on the arms, and red and black gym shoes. The second suspect was clad in a knee-length black jacket with a hood and black boots. Both men were armed with handguns.
In the wake of the senseless killing of the beloved grandfather of ten, the Midwest Independent Retailers Foundation offered a $10,000 reward for any information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the individuals responsible for his death. Community leaders and family members lamented the violence that took the life of a man who was simply leaving his family's place of business.
Despite the clear surveillance footage and the offer of a substantial reward, the investigation into the death of Lewis Putrus has seemingly stalled. There have been no public announcements regarding any arrests in the case, and the two suspects who were so clearly captured on video have not been publicly identified. The community was left to mourn the loss of an elderly man to a brutal act of violence, with the perpetrators still at large.
