In the quiet early morning hours of March 18, 2017, a violent intrusion shattered the peace of a home on Detroit's west side, claiming the life of 60-year-old Robert Pittman. The male victim was shot and killed in what would become a triple homicide that also took the lives of his 43-year-old daughter, Michelle Davis-Asaka, and his 23-year-old grandson, Darrian Jones.
The family was asleep in their residence on Rutherford Street when the tragic events unfolded.
The assailant, later identified as 23-year-old Demaro Devone Horne of Southgate, forced his way into the home around 6 a.m. and opened fire on the unsuspecting family. Davis-Asaka, in a desperate attempt to find safety, ran into her father's room, where both she and Pittman were fatally shot. Jones was also killed in the violent rampage. A fourth individual, a 27-year-old man, was wounded in a shootout with the gunman but survived. Another woman who was present in the house was physically unharmed.
In the immediate aftermath, law enforcement began their investigation, and suspicion quickly fell upon Horne, who was apprehended at a local hospital where he had sought treatment for injuries sustained during the incident. Horne was subsequently charged with a litany of felonies, including three counts of open murder, two counts of assault with intent to murder, first-degree home invasion, and multiple firearm offenses.
The legal proceedings against Demaro Horne culminated in a plea agreement. In a court order dated August 24, 2018, the Michigan Court of Appeals outlined the terms of his plea deal. Horne was to receive a concurrent sentence of 25 to 60 years in prison for convictions of second-degree murder and assault with intent to murder. Additionally, he was to serve a consecutive five-year term for a felony-firearm, second offense, conviction. The order vacated a previous sentence from October 2, 2017, and remanded the case for resentencing in accordance with the specifics of the plea agreement, or to give Horne the option to withdraw his plea if the court was unwilling to adhere to the negotiated terms.
