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Three Detroit men have been charged in the murder of French street artist Bilal Berreni, 23, who was found shot in the head on July 29, 2013, near the Brewster-Douglass housing project on the city's east side, only to be identified months later through fingerprints.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy issued a press release identifying the suspects as Jasin Reno Curtis, 18, Dionte Darryl Travis, 17 and Drequone Lamar Rich, 20, with felony murder, armed robbery, felon in possession of a firearm and felony firearm. A fourth person, a 14-year-old, is expected to be charged.
“It sickens me that a young, talented artist who had traveled the world to pursue his passion was murdered here, thus reinforcing the stereotypes for many about our City of Detroit," Worthy said in a statement. "We will do everything that we possibly can under the law to bring the killers of Mr. Berreni to justice."
Berreni, 23, was living in Detroit when his body was discovered at St. Antoine and Alfred streets.
In march, Gina Damron and Romain Blanquart of the Detroit Free Press pieced together a sad tale of French street artist, who traveled the world, and came to Detroit, only to get murdered last year.
The reporters wrote that his travels took him all around the world, to Tunisia where he did paintings on cardboard of folks who had been killed in the revolution. He spent time in a Libyan border to paint images of refugees.
And they wrote:
The young French street artist came to Detroit, too. He was here twice, but exactly what he did here still isn’t clear. But the trip he made to the city last year was his last, anywhere.
The 23-year-old painter was found dead at the dilapidated Brewster project on Detroit’s east side. He had been shot in the face, and his body was left lying in the street.
