On a summer evening in Ypsilanti, Michigan, 14-year-old Krilissa Feldman’s life was tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence. On Sunday, July 9, 2006, Krilissa was with a group of friends inside a mobile home in the Greenbriar Estates trailer park when the residence was targeted in a drive-by-style shooting. As bullets tore through the walls and windows, the teenagers inside scrambled for cover. When the gunfire ceased, Krilissa and 17-year-old Scott Bonar had been fatally wounded.
Two other teens, Joseph Tibbs, 19, and Chad Yates, 17, sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Krilissa, a former student at Willow Run High School, died at the scene in the arms of her boyfriend.
The investigation into the shooting revealed a grim backstory. The owner of the mobile home told authorities that hours before the shooting, he had been involved in a confrontation with a woman and a group of men armed with bats and crowbars. This earlier dispute is believed to have motivated the subsequent attack. The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department quickly determined that the mobile home was intentionally targeted, with investigators finding at least 20 bullet holes in the structure's exterior. The shocking and brutal nature of the crime sent ripples of fear and grief through the Ypsilanti community.
In the aftermath of the double homicide, law enforcement officials pursued several leads which ultimately led to the identification and arrest of multiple suspects. Four individuals, identified as John-Al-Tonio Sykes, D'Angelo Tard, Stephen Tackett, and Robert Copas, were charged in connection with the fatal shooting. The legal proceedings brought some measure of justice for the families of Krilissa Feldman and Scott Bonar. Sykes and Tard eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Tackett and Copas were tried before separate juries and were both found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, resulting in mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole.
