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Shooting near Detoit school kills one
By Leah Boyd and Amber Hunt
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — Three teenagers accused of opening fire near Ford High School in Detroit last week will be arraigned at 1 p.m. today in 36th District Court. The teens each face first-degree and attempted murder charges that could land them behind bars for life.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office authorized the charges Sunday night in the Thursday shooting, which killed 16-year-old Christopher Walker and injured three other teens.
The suspects have been identified as Devon Bell, 18, of Oak Park; William Morton, 15, of Detroit, and Derryck Brantley, 18, of Detroit. Brantley’s father, Derryck Thomas, is a Detroit police lieutenant and homicide investigator.
Morton has been charged as an adult. The three teens are expected to be arraigned today.
“These charges should send a clear message that there is no tolerance for violence, in school or anywhere else,” Attorney General Mike Cox said in a news release.
Cox’s office took over the investigation Saturday after it was punted by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office because that office regularly works with Brantley’s father on homicide cases.
Detroit police sent the case to the Michigan State Police on Friday, also to avoid a conflict of interest.
The shooting was sparked by a school-day fight between one of the suspects and one of the victims, officials said.
Bell, Morton and Brantley pulled up at the intersection of Evergreen and Pembroke -- about a block from the high school and next to Michigan Technical Academy, a charter school -- just as the high school let out about 3:40 p.m., police said.
The three got out of a black Mazda SUV and fired an assault rifle, said Lt. Shannon Sims, a spokesman for the State Police. He said they’re investigating whether a second firearm was used.
The three were arrested about five hours after the shooting. The SUV they had been driving was registered to Thomas’ family, police said. Walker was fatally shot in the head and chest. Also shot were two boys, ages 15 and 16, and a 15-year-old girl, none of whom has been identified.
Copyright 2008 Detroit Free Press