Charges dismissed in grisly Ypsilanti Township triple homicide
For nearly six years, they were locked up facing a possible death sentence for a grisly 2001 triple homicide in Ypsilanti Township.
On Friday, a federal judge dismissed the charges against Deondre Byrd and three other men after a federal prosecutor said new evidence came to light last Friday that prevented the government from taking the case to trial.
It was the second time in three years that Byrd escaped murder charges. He has been imprisoned in recent years for both the triple homicide and the slaying of a 16-year-old girl in Ann Arbor, but he has been convicted on only a federal gun charge.
"Obviously, I'm pretty upset that almost 11 years later, we still don't have any answers," said Christy Brown, 30, a close family friend of the victims of the triple homicide. She said she got a call from federal prosecutors Thursday saying the case was being dropped, but they wouldn't elaborate. "I was very surprised. I honestly thought they were making some progress this past year."
The dismissal of charges Friday was the third time in recent weeks that a high-profile federal prosecution brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit has collapsed.
"There is insufficient evidence for any likelihood of success at trial," Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Cares told U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow.
The judge expressed concern over the time and money spent on the case, and the anxiety it caused.
"I'm troubled because this is six years of uncertainty for the community, for the defendants, for the court," Tarnow told Cares. "It was only a few months ago that this case was in Washington, where the folks in the Justice Department had to make a decision on whether or not to seek the death penalty."
In January, federal prosecutors informed defense lawyers that the Justice Department hadn't authorized the death penalty.
"Do you want to put anything else on the record about what happened last Friday, or is this all going to be a mystery?" Tarnow asked Cares.
Cares replied: "Your honor, the government has nothing further at this time."
'This case had issues'
Defense lawyers said they, too, were mystified about the new evidence.
Outside the courtroom, they blasted the government for dragging their clients through a case they said was flimsy from the start.
"We've said from Day 1 that this case had issues," said Byrd's lawyer, Anthony Chambers of Detroit. "For 5 1/2 years-plus, these defendants and their families were under a tremendous amount of stress, and prosecutors had filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty."
Chambers conceded his client isn't very popular in Washtenaw County.
"We understand what some people, the community and law enforcement may think of Deondre Byrd, but at the end of the day, he has rights like everyone else, and that requires proof, not speculation," Chambers said.
The men -- Byrd, 36; Terrance Smith, 29; Eric Murray, 33, and Ronald Henderson, 34 -- were charged in 2006 with the June 2001 slaying of a woman, her boyfriend and her son during a home invasion in the West Willow neighborhood of Ypsilanti Township.
Authorities said the men went there to steal drugs and money. They said Murray and Henderson waited outside, while Byrd and Smith -- wearing masks and carrying firearms -- entered the home.
Once inside, authorities said, Byrd shot the family dog.
When 14-year-old Jessie Post became upset about his dog, Byrd allegedly shot him in the head. Authorities said Byrd and Smith ordered Willie Lamont Jones, 30, to retrieve drugs and money, and then killed him and his girlfriend, Gerylanne Harris, 40.
Authorities said Byrd and Smith took crack cocaine, marijuana and cash from a back bedroom and, before leaving, shot the teenager six more times.
"The heinous murders alleged in the indictment, linked as they so often are with drug trafficking, show how illegal drugs can spawn violence and brutal behavior," then-U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy said in announcing the charges in 2006.
The case was investigated by the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office, Michigan State Police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
About the suspects
At the time they were charged, Byrd was in federal prison on a weapons conviction, and Henderson was serving a 10- to 30-year sentence for manslaughter in the 2003 shooting death of a 19-year-old man in Ann Arbor.
Smith was serving a life sentence in the shooting death of a Superior Township man in 2002 and was federally indicted in 2005 in a September 2001 drug-related shooting death. Murray was arrested in Tampa.
In 2009, a Washtenaw County jury acquitted Byrd of killing Tamara Stewart, 16, during a 1995 shootout involving rival gangs in Ann Arbor. The girl was attending a barbecue on Ann Arbor's south side when she was shot by a stray bullet. Chambers also was Byrd's lawyer in that case.
As of Friday, Murray was free on bond until trial, Byrd was in federal custody, and Smith and Henderson were in state custody.
Chambers said Byrd was still in custody Friday night as Washtenaw County authorities sought to keep him locked up on a charge of failing to provide child support.
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade wouldn't describe the new evidence Friday or whether the government had charged the wrong suspects.
"This was at one time a cold case that was built on hard work and civilian testimony," she said. "Last week, we received information that caused us to lose confidence in the civilian testimony.
"We believe it is in the best interest of justice to dismiss the charges," she told the Free Press. "We will go forward with a prosecution when we believe we have a reasonable likelihood of conviction at trial."
Last week, defense lawyers asked in court documents that the case be dismissed for lack of a speedy trial. The defense attorneys said it took more than five years to issue an indictment and another 5 1/2 years for prosecutors to ask the Justice Department for permission to seek the death penalty.
"The excessive delay in this case has created extreme prejudice," attorney John Minock of Ann Arbor, who represents Henderson, wrote in court documents. "The only eyewitness who saw the robbers arrive at the scene and who could have made an identification has died, evidence has been lost, witnesses are not able to be located, and witness memories have become lost due to the passage of time."
Other troubles
The other recent blows to the U.S. Attorney's Office include a militia prosecution and a drug case.
Last month, a federal judge in Detroit acquitted all seven members of a Lenawee County militia group of plotting a violent revolt against the government, saying prosecutors didn't have enough evidence. The same day, a federal jury acquitted four out of five defendants in a major drug case that prosecutors say terrorized a Detroit neighborhood.
On Friday, Byrd's mother, Martha Olive, said she was relieved her son's ordeal was coming to an end.
"Words can't express how I feel," she told the Free Press at the courthouse.
Contact David Ashenfelter: dashenfelter@freepress.com
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