Teh One Who Knocks
04-08-2022, 12:54 PM
By Cole Waterman | Mlive.com
https://i.imgur.com/RCsNzNa.jpg
SAGINAW, MI — A September afternoon, police entered a Saginaw Township home to check on a woman who had uncharacteristically not shown up for work that day. Venturing into a bedroom, they found the woman sitting in a chair, dead from apparent gunshot wounds as her small dog scrambled around her protectively.
Within 24 hours, the woman’s husband told a detective he had shot his wife during an argument. Not long after, he reiterated the fatal shooting was accidental during a mental health evaluation in the Saginaw County Jail.
Yet, according to police, the man’s slain wife bore not one gunshot wound, but eight, plus a couple of stab wounds.
These elements were testified to during the Wednesday, April 6, preliminary examination of 43-year-old Lonnie R. Mitchell Jr., a former corrections officer charged with open murder and felony firearm in the homicide of his 49-year-old wife, Shantina Davenport-Mitchell.
The hearing began with Saginaw Township Police Officer Kevin Gloude testifying that about 3:15 p.m. on Sept. 29 he responded to 382 Lamplighter Drive to check on Davenport-Mitchell’s well-being of after a coworker reported she hadn’t come to work. Davenport-Mitchell had not responded to calls, texts, or emails, Gloude said.
Mitchell likewise had not gone to work that day and wasn’t responding to calls, Gloude said.
Gloude walked to the house’s front porch and noticed the door handle was damaged. He knocked on the door and heard dogs barking from within. Peering through windows, he saw a small dog acting agitated, running around and barking, he said.
Gloude was given permission by his superior to enter the house and requested more officers to the scene.
Gloude found the front door was unlocked and stepped inside. In a cage was a large dog acting aggressive, while the smaller one ran around.
The officer entered a bedroom and found an assault-style rifle lying on the bed. He then noticed Davenport-Mitchell in the room.
“Miss Mitchell was sitting in a chair, deceased,” he said, adding the small dog was near her. “It was trying to go back to protect its owner.”
There were shell casings along the floor of the bedroom and adjoining bathroom, the officer said.
Saginaw County Animal Control officers also responded to the house and removed the two dogs, Gloude said. No one else was in the house, he added.
https://i.imgur.com/duF9Rd2.png
Saginaw Township Police Detective James MacDonald then testified police located Mitchell at his aunt and uncle’s Flint apartment, arresting him without incident about 3:15 a.m. on Sept. 30. Given consent to search the apartment, police seized Mitchell’s tennis shoes that bore apparent blood and a loaded .380 Smith & Wesson handgun, MacDonald said.
Analysis of the shoes showed Davenport-Mitchell was a contributor to their bloodstains, the detective added.
Questioned by defense attorney Michael L. Oakes, MacDonald said he never saw Mitchell with the .380. He also said Mitchell appeared to be under the influence of some substance, judging by his demeanor and physical stability.
Stephanie Gerds, a behavioral health coordinator subcontracted to work out of the Saginaw County Jail, testified she met with Mitchell after he was lodged in the jail for for a suicide watch assessment. Unprompted, Mitchell began telling Gerds he had killed his wife, she said.
“Mr. Mitchell made a comment that he … came in the front door and his wife was on the phone,” Gerds said. “It was a phone he did not recognize. He confronted her about it and he took a gun, put it up to his head and she went to pull the gun down and the trigger went off and it shot her and then the gun fired two more times.”
Gerds warned Mitchell to stop talking, telling him she might have to testify about what he was saying, she said.
“That was not the purpose of why I was there,” she said. “He started to say, ‘Well, what happened was…’ and I stopped him right there. He stopped and paused and said, ‘It’s OK,’ and then continued on with the rest of his statement.”
The case’s lead investigator, Saginaw Township Police Detective Scott Jackson, testified he interviewed Mitchell at police headquarters a few hours after his arrest. By that time, Mitchell did not appear intoxicated, he said.
Read his Miranda rights, Mitchell admitted to shooting his wife, Jackson said.
“He said that he was upset,” Jackson said. “They had gotten into an argument. He believed she was not being faithful to him. He was also struggling with the belief that she was controlling. She had recently shut off his phone, from what he told me. She had kicked him out of the home. He had nowhere to sleep, nowhere to eat, and he was upset about that. He said they had gotten into an argument and he shot her.”
After shooting her, Mitchell said he grabbed the keys to a Dodge Durango and left for Flint.
Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Blair N. Stevenson asked the detective if Mitchell said his wife said anything after he shot her.
“He told me that Shantina told him to call 911, to get help, and to hide the gun and that they together … would report that the shooting was an accident,” Jackson said.
Stevenson then presented an autopsy report stating Davenport-Mitchell had suffered eight gunshot and two stab wounds.
After Jackson stepped down, Stevenson asked Saginaw County District Judge M. Randall Jurrens to bind the case over to Circuit Court for trial. Oakes objected, saying in part that Jackson and Gerds’ testimony should be discounted. Oakes disputed his client could have been sober and lucid during his interview with Jackson, while with Gerds, he asserted she was acting as a law enforcement agent when Mitchell confessed to her.
Stevenson countered several hours had passed between Mitchell’s apparent intoxication and his interview with Jackson. He also said Gerds was not acting in a law enforcement capacity when Mitchell spoke to her and that she told him not to talk about his wife’s death with her.
Jurrens ruled in the prosecution’s favor and bound the case over.
Mitchell’s trial date is pending.
https://i.imgur.com/RCsNzNa.jpg
SAGINAW, MI — A September afternoon, police entered a Saginaw Township home to check on a woman who had uncharacteristically not shown up for work that day. Venturing into a bedroom, they found the woman sitting in a chair, dead from apparent gunshot wounds as her small dog scrambled around her protectively.
Within 24 hours, the woman’s husband told a detective he had shot his wife during an argument. Not long after, he reiterated the fatal shooting was accidental during a mental health evaluation in the Saginaw County Jail.
Yet, according to police, the man’s slain wife bore not one gunshot wound, but eight, plus a couple of stab wounds.
These elements were testified to during the Wednesday, April 6, preliminary examination of 43-year-old Lonnie R. Mitchell Jr., a former corrections officer charged with open murder and felony firearm in the homicide of his 49-year-old wife, Shantina Davenport-Mitchell.
The hearing began with Saginaw Township Police Officer Kevin Gloude testifying that about 3:15 p.m. on Sept. 29 he responded to 382 Lamplighter Drive to check on Davenport-Mitchell’s well-being of after a coworker reported she hadn’t come to work. Davenport-Mitchell had not responded to calls, texts, or emails, Gloude said.
Mitchell likewise had not gone to work that day and wasn’t responding to calls, Gloude said.
Gloude walked to the house’s front porch and noticed the door handle was damaged. He knocked on the door and heard dogs barking from within. Peering through windows, he saw a small dog acting agitated, running around and barking, he said.
Gloude was given permission by his superior to enter the house and requested more officers to the scene.
Gloude found the front door was unlocked and stepped inside. In a cage was a large dog acting aggressive, while the smaller one ran around.
The officer entered a bedroom and found an assault-style rifle lying on the bed. He then noticed Davenport-Mitchell in the room.
“Miss Mitchell was sitting in a chair, deceased,” he said, adding the small dog was near her. “It was trying to go back to protect its owner.”
There were shell casings along the floor of the bedroom and adjoining bathroom, the officer said.
Saginaw County Animal Control officers also responded to the house and removed the two dogs, Gloude said. No one else was in the house, he added.
https://i.imgur.com/duF9Rd2.png
Saginaw Township Police Detective James MacDonald then testified police located Mitchell at his aunt and uncle’s Flint apartment, arresting him without incident about 3:15 a.m. on Sept. 30. Given consent to search the apartment, police seized Mitchell’s tennis shoes that bore apparent blood and a loaded .380 Smith & Wesson handgun, MacDonald said.
Analysis of the shoes showed Davenport-Mitchell was a contributor to their bloodstains, the detective added.
Questioned by defense attorney Michael L. Oakes, MacDonald said he never saw Mitchell with the .380. He also said Mitchell appeared to be under the influence of some substance, judging by his demeanor and physical stability.
Stephanie Gerds, a behavioral health coordinator subcontracted to work out of the Saginaw County Jail, testified she met with Mitchell after he was lodged in the jail for for a suicide watch assessment. Unprompted, Mitchell began telling Gerds he had killed his wife, she said.
“Mr. Mitchell made a comment that he … came in the front door and his wife was on the phone,” Gerds said. “It was a phone he did not recognize. He confronted her about it and he took a gun, put it up to his head and she went to pull the gun down and the trigger went off and it shot her and then the gun fired two more times.”
Gerds warned Mitchell to stop talking, telling him she might have to testify about what he was saying, she said.
“That was not the purpose of why I was there,” she said. “He started to say, ‘Well, what happened was…’ and I stopped him right there. He stopped and paused and said, ‘It’s OK,’ and then continued on with the rest of his statement.”
The case’s lead investigator, Saginaw Township Police Detective Scott Jackson, testified he interviewed Mitchell at police headquarters a few hours after his arrest. By that time, Mitchell did not appear intoxicated, he said.
Read his Miranda rights, Mitchell admitted to shooting his wife, Jackson said.
“He said that he was upset,” Jackson said. “They had gotten into an argument. He believed she was not being faithful to him. He was also struggling with the belief that she was controlling. She had recently shut off his phone, from what he told me. She had kicked him out of the home. He had nowhere to sleep, nowhere to eat, and he was upset about that. He said they had gotten into an argument and he shot her.”
After shooting her, Mitchell said he grabbed the keys to a Dodge Durango and left for Flint.
Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Blair N. Stevenson asked the detective if Mitchell said his wife said anything after he shot her.
“He told me that Shantina told him to call 911, to get help, and to hide the gun and that they together … would report that the shooting was an accident,” Jackson said.
Stevenson then presented an autopsy report stating Davenport-Mitchell had suffered eight gunshot and two stab wounds.
After Jackson stepped down, Stevenson asked Saginaw County District Judge M. Randall Jurrens to bind the case over to Circuit Court for trial. Oakes objected, saying in part that Jackson and Gerds’ testimony should be discounted. Oakes disputed his client could have been sober and lucid during his interview with Jackson, while with Gerds, he asserted she was acting as a law enforcement agent when Mitchell confessed to her.
Stevenson countered several hours had passed between Mitchell’s apparent intoxication and his interview with Jackson. He also said Gerds was not acting in a law enforcement capacity when Mitchell spoke to her and that she told him not to talk about his wife’s death with her.
Jurrens ruled in the prosecution’s favor and bound the case over.
Mitchell’s trial date is pending.