In the summer of 2015, the life of 17-year-old Marquaan Dhonte Crosby was tragically cut short on the streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan. On the night of August 12, Crosby, a Black male, was walking with three friends near the intersection of Adams Street and Marshall Avenue SE when an individual approached them. Without warning, the person opened fire, striking Crosby in the upper torso before fleeing the scene.
Emergency services rushed the young man to a nearby hospital, but his injuries proved fatal.
The investigation into the senseless killing led authorities to 21-year-old Sanqua Cummings. Already in jail on unrelated charges since August 2015, Cummings was officially charged in June 2016 with open murder, gang membership, possession of a weapon by a felon, and felony firearm in connection with Crosby's death. Cummings was no stranger to the criminal justice system, having been previously acquitted of murder charges in a separate case in 2012. His criminal history was extensive and included other violent offenses.
In December 2016, a Kent County jury found Sanqua Cummings guilty of the first-degree murder of Marquaan Crosby. The trial brought to light Cummings' involvement in a string of violent crimes that occurred within weeks of Crosby's death. He had pleaded guilty to two other non-fatal shootings, one of which occurred just days before the murder. For the murder of Marquaan Crosby, Cummings was sentenced to a mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was also found guilty of weapons and gang membership offenses. In 2018, the Michigan Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from Cummings, upholding his conviction and ensuring he would remain behind bars for the rest of his life for the death of Marquaan Crosby.
