The guy accused of killing former Michigan football player Richard Jekel is anticipated to face open firearm and felony firearm charges, Kent County Circuit Court stated on Friday, August 5, 2022.
The accused, Devon Tashawn Matthews, 26, showed up before District Court Judge Jennifer Faber on Friday for a preliminary examination hearing, according to the Grand Rapids Police Department.
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During the four-hour preliminary hearing, Faber allegedly determined that there was enough evidence connecting Matthews to the crime and forwarded the case to the circuit court for additional review.
A closer examination of the Richard Jekel homicide case
According to police investigations, Richard Jekel was found dead and shot just below his left eye on June 6 while lying in the back seat of the vehicle. Officers discovered him in his own car, covered in a plastic tablecloth.
When police were called to make an arrest shortly after, they found Matthews standing outside the home of the person he had been following with a revolver. Authorities said in court that the bullet found on Jekel’s body came from the same weapon that Matthews had attempted to discard.
Richard Jekel passed away at roughly 10:00 a.m., and based on information from his artificial cardiac pacemaker, medical professionals concluded that his cause of death was a gunshot wound.
The shooter of Richard Jekel was facing him and was nearby, according to Dr. Stephen Cohle, a forensic pathology expert, based on the position of the wound.
According to reports, Richard Jekel’s daughter Melissa discussed her father’s passing and claimed that there was no obvious motive for doing so:
“They haven’t been able to connect my dad in any way at all with Devon. Just by chance, the time and place were off. He was attempting to approach his stalking target. He randomly killed my father. Because she was the target of his stalking, he would have killed her, leaving their child to grow up without either parent. In other words, even though it stinks, I don’t want to let it make me bitter. Additionally, Devon Matthews is charged with aggravated stalking.
The police were keeping an eye on Matthews on June 6 after a lady who lives in the 1900 block of Jefferson Avenue SE reported aggravating stalking.
The story claims that because Matthews was tethered to a “GPS tether,” authorities had no trouble figuring out where he was.
The location of Richard Jekel’s vehicle as seen on nearby security cameras at the moment his heart stopped was quite close to where Matthews was traveling, according to GPS data, which put him close to Burton Street and Jefferson Avenue.
Mathews allegedly realized the police were pursuing him and made the decision to flee from the car. Soon after, authorities located his Ruger.380 pistol hidden beneath a roll of toilet paper when they apprehended him in a public lavatory at The Salvation Army Kroc Center.
Detectives have examined the pistol, according to Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Monica Janiskee, and have linked it to the shell casing that was found after officers moved Jekel’s body. She remarked:
“We are aware that they discovered a shell casing while removing Mr. Jekel from the car. We are aware that the spent bullet was also found below Mr. Jekel’s body, and that the police were able to track down the offender’s weapon as they were pursuing him.
After thereafter, at the hearing for the second aggravated stalking complaint, Matthews’ bond was raised to $50,000. He will now make another appearance in court the following week.