DETROIT (WWWJ) -- Detroit police have arrested a 16 and 17-year-old in connection with the fatal shooting of a man, a woman and a 5-year-old boy on the city’s west side.
Chief James White said tips from the public helped his investigators to identify the suspects in what police call a "heinous crime."
The teenage suspects were taken into custody Monday without incident. Police said they knew the victims, but a possible motive is not currently known.
However, he wanted to assure the public: "We are confident that we have those responsible in custody," the chief said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The teens are currently lodged in the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility while police prepare warrants seeking murder charges.
On Sunday, officers responded to a home in the 15000 block of Evergreen after receiving a 911 call from a family member who hadn’t heard from the victims in about a week. The family member found the home’s backdoor was open and police suspect it had been kicked in.
Inside the home, they found a woman and her boyfriend shot to death. Police then discovered the woman’s 5-year-old son, Caleb, lying on his bedroom floor with multiple gunshot wounds.
Caleb’s grandmother, Shalesa Floyd, is the cousin of Detroit School Board member and former City Councilwoman Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, now a candidate for U.S. Congress in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District.
Police said the two suspects remain in juvenile custody.
White said this case has had a profound impact on every officer in the DPD.
"These officers are passionate, they care about this community, they worked tirelessly," White added. "It's not just something I'm saying. I see it, I see it every day...And this case, like so many others, has really touched and tugged at the heart of this department. And they have not stopped churning to get this perpetrator in custody."
White stressed that this remains an open investigation.
Stay with WWJ for the latest on this developing story.
Related
