In Detroit, the life of a 22-year-old man, Rodney Lewis, was tragically cut short on April 4, 1990, in a brutal mass murder that unfolded within the walls of a crack house on St. Aubin Street. This event would become known as one of the city's most notorious crimes. Lewis, along with five other individuals, fell victim to a robbery that escalated into a scene of unimaginable violence. The other victims were identified as Steven Owens, Bobby Frazier, 16; Carl Williams, 21; Robert Hill, 15; and LeVon Robinson, 18.
The investigation into the grisly scene led police to four young suspects. The alleged mastermind behind the robbery and killings was 18-year-old Tamara Marie Marshall. She was accused of orchestrating the attack and personally shooting her former boyfriend, Steven Owens, who was among the deceased. The other individuals charged in connection with the murders were Jamal Latiff Biggs, Mark Lamond Bell, and Marc Caison.
Information provided by survivors of the attack was crucial in the swift apprehension of the suspects. In the subsequent trial, Tamara Marshall was found guilty of multiple counts of first-degree and second-degree murder, in addition to being an accessory to murder after the fact. She, along with her co-defendants Biggs and Bell, received mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole. Marc Caison was slated to stand trial at a later date.
Another man named Rodney Lewis was killed in Detroit on the evening of May 15, 2001. On that day, Lewis and a friend, Perry Walker, had been drinking before they drove to a local neighborhood store. As they pulled into the parking lot, they nearly struck a man. After Lewis parked, this individual approached the vehicle and a conversation began. At some point, Lewis opened the trunk of his car. As he was looking inside, the man he had nearly hit pulled out a gun and shot him. The assailant then turned the weapon on Walker, firing at him as well. Witnesses reported that after the initial shooting, the gunman ran across the street, only to return moments later to shoot Lewis in the head as he lay on the ground.
The following morning, the shooter turned himself into the police. While he admitted to shooting both Lewis and Walker, he claimed he had acted in self-defense, stating that he believed Lewis was reaching for a weapon in his trunk. However, a search of the vehicle only uncovered a small, souvenir-type baseball bat. An autopsy revealed that Rodney Lewis had been shot twice in the back and once in the head, with the headshot being the cause of death. The shooter was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, carrying a concealed weapon, and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. For the murder conviction, he was sentenced to life in prison.
