DETROIT (WWJ) – A Detroit man has been ordered to spend at least the next four decades behind bars for a quadruple shooting at a Detroit coney island restaurant in 2020 that left three people dead and one injured.
Mickey Douglas, 27, was in Wayne County’s 3rd Circuit Court Monday morning for sentencing in the shooting at A. Eagle Coney Island near Dexter and Joy on the city’s northwest side on July 20, 2020.
Officials say Douglas opened fire at the restaurant, killing 34-year-old Brian Jackson, 24-year-old Carnell Watts and 20-year-old Courtney Willis, all of Detroit. A fourth victim survived the shooting, which stemmed from a comment one of the victims made about Douglas’s girlfriend.
Douglas was found guilty of three counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Each count carries a 40-60-year sentence.
Family members of the victims were at the sentencing. Some expressed anger. Some expressed sadness.
“If you have a heart, if you have guilt, if you have something within you that says that you want to do something better, we’re asking right now that you show it,” a relative of Jackson's said.
Jackson was a cousin of Rev. Charles Williams II – an activist for racial and social justice and the President of the Michigan Chapter of the National Action Network (NAN).
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An attorney representing the surviving victim – then-28-year-old Branden Moseley – said the victim “indicated that he would rather be dead” than have survived the shooting.
“Because he has such terrible survivor’s guilt and the mental anguish that he goes through everyday because of what happened to him and three other members of the Detroit community.”
Speaking during Monday's sentencing, Jackson's father was hurt and angry.
"I've been through hell and back," he said. "Me and his birthdays are on the same day. It's coming up at the end of this month. I won't be able to celebrate with him because of this senseless killing."
Douglas chose not to speak to victims' families before sentencing. Of note, he was on parole when the shootings happened. Douglas had already served a two-year sentence on his one count of felony firearm
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