A Wayne County judge declined in May to jail a probation violator who went on to shoot three people, one of them a child, earlier this week.
WXYZ is not naming the man, who has not yet been charged. That could change today. The station reports:
Wayne County Judge Bruce Morrow declined a Michigan Department of Corrections recommendation that the man be jailed for 90 days after violating his probation. Even before that, say police, the man repeatedly ran afoul of the law, but was given low bonds by judges, repeatedly skipped court dates and flouted the legal system.
Detroit Police today forwarded a request for charges to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office. Because he has not been formally charged, 7 Action News is not naming him.
Court records reveal that, over the course of four years, the man was accused at least four times of physically assaulting his estranged wife, as well as a small child. In 2017, he was convicted of criminal sexual conduct.
On Tuesday, the man allegedly shot his estranged wife, along with an older man and an 8-year-old boy. Police Chief James Craig asked whether the shootings were preventable, and told the station, “It just seems like the system has continuously failed to properly address this person.”
