DETROIT (WWJ) – Between 2018 and 2019, a serial killer terrorized the east side of Detroit, murdering at least four women and sexually assaulting two others.
Fast forward several years, and Deangelo Martin has been brought to justice. On Thursday, Martin was sentenced to 45 to 70 years in prison for the murders and sexual assaults.
On a new edition of The Daily J, WWJ’s Zach Clark takes a look at his sentencing and examines the investigation that got us to this point.
Judge Regina Thomas handed down the sentence on Thursday – four concurrent second-degree murder sentences of 45-70 years and concurrent sentences of 20-40 years in the sexual assault cases.
Martin pleaded guilty in early September to the murders of 57-year-old Annetta Nelson, 52-year-old Nancy Harrison, 55-year-old Travesene Elliss and 55-year-old Tamara Jones, as well as the sexual assaults..
“The women Deangelo Martin violently killed all had families that loved them dearly. Hopefully, they will find some peace knowing that he will be in the Michigan Department of Corrections and off the streets,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a press release.
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Nelson’s body was the first to be found, when a 43-year-old man went into a vacant home on the afternoon of Feb. 26, 2018 in the 11620 block of Winthrop on the city's west side. She was found her lying face-down with blood on her face. A used condom was found near her body. The prosecutor’s office says he carried her outside and flagged down police.
More than a year later on the city's east side, Harrison was found when a man went into a home on Coventry Street to smoke marijuana on March 19, 2019. Ellis was found five days later in a home on Linnhurst Street. Four months after that, someone found Jones’ body at a home on Mack Avenue.
Like Nelson, a used condom was found near each of their bodies, all found lying face-down.
It took authorities a while to determine they were dealing with a serial killer, though some community members said they were trying to tell police about it for months.
Martin was caught in June 2019, shortly after Detroit police identified him as the suspected serial killer. Authorities were able to identify him with the help of a survivor, who stabbed him in the eye.
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