The Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) -- A Detroit man faces life in prison with no chance of parole after being convicted Monday of murdering two police officers during a traffic stop.
A Wayne County Circuit Court jury found Eric Marshall, 23, guilty of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of felony murder and one count of using a firearm while committing a felony, Assistant Prosecutor Betty Walker said.
Marshall was charged in the Feb. 16 shooting deaths of Matthew Bowens, 21, and his partner, Jennifer Fettig, 26.
Homicide investigator Derryck Thomas testified Thursday that Marshall gave a statement about 10 hours after the shootings. Thomas said Marshall confessed to killing the officers before blacking out.
Walker said that, besides Marshall’s confession, there were numerous eyewitness and “earwitness” statements. “No case is ever open and shut, but there was an overwhelming amount of evidence in this case. ... everything except a real reason” for the shootings.
Marshall will be sentenced Jan. 5.
Defense attorney Kerry Leon Jackson said Monday evening that the verdict didn’t surprise him.
“The trial was a week. (The jury) deliberated less than an hour. They had their minds made up long before they went in to deliberate,” Jackson said, adding that he planned to appeal.
Fettig and Bowens were the 18th and 19th Detroit officers killed in the line of duty since 1990.
In the wake of the officers’ slayings, relatives and friends of Bowens sought a statewide vote on allowing the death penalty for those convicted of killing police or corrections officers. The initiative failed to collect enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.