GRAND RAPIDS (WWJ) - Federal officials regretfully announced that a Detroit man accused of kidnapping and murdering a 16-year-old West Michigan girl in 2018 died of medical complications on Monday before his trial could begin.
Gerald Bennett, 63, from Detroit died on November 13 nearly a week after he was admitted to the hospital for cancer treatment on Nov. 7, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten said on Tuesday.
Bennett was awaiting trial on charges including conspiracy to commit murder for hire resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death, kidnapping of a minor victim, and solicitation to commit a crime of violence.
If Bennett was convicted on either count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire resulting in death or kidnapping resulting in death, the 63-year-old would've been sentenced to a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said they have dismissed the pending case now that the defendant is deceased.
"The allegations in this case were heinous and I deeply regret we will never present the evidence against Mr. Bennett in open court," Totten said. "At best, our efforts can secure only a measure of justice. We can't bring Mujey back. But the truth-telling role of a conviction matters. I am grateful for the investigators who worked for years to secure justice and my heart remains with her family as they mourn the loss of one they dearly loved."
According to Totten, high-school student Mujey Dumbuya came forward in 2017 and accused Grand Rapids resident Quinn James of sexually assaulting her when she was 15-years-old.
When James heard the criminal complaint, he turned to Bennett to help him kidnap and murder Dumbuya, who was then 16-years-old. The two men communicated for several weeks leading up to the Dumbuya's abduction from a bus stop on January 24, 2018.
Her body was found days later in a wooded area in Kalamazoo, federal authorities said. James and Bennett were both charged in state court for her murder with James convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Bennett, however, managed to convince state court that he was not competent to stand trial and in March 2022, his state case was dismissed.
But federal officials remained unconvinced that Bennett was incompetent and worked to bring the case to the U.S. Attorney's office. In June 2022, Bennett was arrested on a federal complaint that accused him working with James to kidnap Dumbuya. A federal grand jury reviewed evidence presented against him and returned an indictment formalizing the charge of kidnapping a minor in August the same year.
A competency evaluation preformed by a forensic psychologist at a a special Federal Bureau of Prisons facility found Bennett wasn't only competent, but that he was also malingering, or faking his incompetency.
While waiting for his competency hearing, officials learned he had told other inmates that he was faking his incompetency as was accused of allegedly soliciting another murder-for -ire in an effort to silence a key witness in his case.
In April of 2023, a judge found him competent to stand trail. Bennett had additional charges filed against him, including conspiracy to commit murder for hire resulting in death and kidnapping resulting in death. The grand jury also included a fourth charge for solicitation to commit a crime of violence for Bennett's efforts to hire someone to murder a witness in his case.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin on February 26th of 2024 before Bennett fell ill. He was brought to the hospital last Tuesday for cancer treatment, but officials said his health rapidly declined and he was eventually placed on life support.
"Bennett was the sole defendant in the federal case and with his death, prosecution is no longer possible," officials said.
