In the fall of 2014, a family gathering in Lansing, Michigan, took a tragic and violent turn, ending the life of 39-year-old Michael Thomas Jimenez. On the evening of November 8, 2014, Jimenez was at a friend's home in the 300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. with his brother, Rahsohn Perry. The brothers had been drinking when an argument erupted, fueled by deep-seated resentment.
Perry, who was 33 at the time, had recently been released from jail and was reportedly upset with
Jimenez. Witnesses later testified that Perry was angry that his brother had gotten married and was driving a Cadillac Escalade while he was incarcerated. Another point of contention was Perry's belief that Jimenez had not adequately supported him financially while he was in jail by not putting money on his account. The verbal dispute quickly escalated into a physical altercation.
During the struggle, Rahsohn Perry produced a gun and shot his brother, Michael Jimenez, in the head. Jimenez, who was unarmed, died from the gunshot wound. The act of violence stemmed from a place of jealousy and anger, turning a brotherly bond into a fatal confrontation. Following the shooting, Perry was arrested and charged with the murder of his brother.
In October 2015, Rahsohn Perry pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of a plea agreement. While his attorney had considered a self-defense argument, the evidence presented a different picture. In December 2015, a judge sentenced Perry to a minimum of 18 years and a maximum of 35 years in prison for the death of his brother, Michael Jimenez. The sentencing brought a close to the legal chapter of a story that irrevocably fractured a family.
