Deangelo Martin is charged with four counts of first-degree
murder and four counts of felony murder in the killings of the women whose
bodies were found in abandoned houses in the city as far back as February 2018,
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said at a news conference.
Martin, who was arrested in June, was already charged in
the stabbing and sexual assault of 26-year-old woman in May and the kidnapping and
assault of a 51-year-old woman in June.
Police Chief James Craig has said he sees similarities
between three of the slayings and the assaults of at least two other women who
survived attacks.
“I think it’s pretty clear that we believe he is a serial
killer,” Worthy said.
She named the victims as Annetta Nelson, 57, whose body was
found Feb. 26, 2018; Nancy Harrison, 52, who was discovered March 19, 2019;
Trevesene Ellis, 55, was found March 24; and Tamara Jones, 55, who was found
June 5.
All the victims were found face down with a used condom
beside them, she said. A coroner determined that Nelson and Harrison died of
blunt force trauma but the cause of death for the other two couldn’t be
determined because their bodies were too badly decomposed, Worthy said.
Police are investigating two additional possible homicide
cases that might also be connected, she said.
The Associated Press left a message seeking
comment from Martin’s appointed defense attorney in the assault and kidnapping
cases.
Police have said they believe all the women were sex
workers.
“Predators ... look for people who are seemingly vulnerable,
left out and left behind,” Worthy said. “People that they think will not fight
back, people that they think nobody cares about, people that they think won’t
be missed. But they’re wrong.”
She continued: “We worked tirelessly to make sure that we
can bring them some modicum of justice, of respect and of dignity, no matter
what they were engaged in before, during, after they were reported missing.”
Martin was initially arrested in June in the rape and
attempted murder of a woman who was able to escape the attack. At that point,
police had already uncovered three homicide victims, and teams of police
officers and other city workers were searching hundreds of
vacant buildings for more bodies.
“This is the kind of case that creates so much fear in our
community,” Craig said during the news conference. “We’re very diligent,
relentless in how we approach these matters.”
Six years ago, Detroit had at least 30,000 empty houses and
20 square miles (50 square kilometers) of vacant land. Mayor Mike Duggan has
said removing blighted houses is a priority in his efforts to revive Detroit
since the city’s 2014 exit from the largest municipal bankruptcy in
U.S. history.
Duggan this week announced plans to ask voters to approve
the sale of up to $250 million in
bonds to eradicate residential blight across the city. A proposed
resolution to put the initiative on the March 2020 ballot has been submitted to
the City Council.
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