LINCOLN PARK (WWJ) -- A 44-year-old Southfield man has been bound over for trial for the murder of Melvindale Police Officer Mohammed Said.
This development in Lincoln Park's 25th District Court came after five witnesses, including other officers who were on the scene, testified during a preliminary hearing about the deadly shooting over the summer.
Police said Officer Said was shot to death on July 21 during a struggle with Michael Lopez, who ran away after the officer spotted him at a car wash near Oakwood and Dix roads. Following the deadly shooting and a days-long manhunt, police found and arrested Lopez in Southwest Detroit.
On Monday, bodycam footage was played in court, and Melvindale Police Det. Mitchell Hainey testified about the body camera worn by officer Said the day he was shot.
The video, three minutes and five seconds long, showed the last moments of Said's life, as he chased Lopez over a fence and into some brush where the officer tased Lopez. As the two wrestled to the ground, WWJ's Jon Hewett reports the video shows Lopez shooting Said in the head.
Hewett reported another officer, Michigan State Police Det. Brittany Ellsworth, may have offered the most significant testimony, saying Lopez admitted during an interview that he'd killed Said.
On the stand, Ellsworth was asked if Lopez said why he did it, to which she replied: "He alluded to the fact that he did not want to go back to jail."
Along with murder of a police officer, a life felony, Lopez has also been charged with possession of drugs, weapons violations and being a habitual offender.
A Lincoln Park District Court Judge ruled following Monday's testimony that there is enough evidence for Lopez to stand trial on all 12 charges.
After the hearing, the victim's younger brother, Amed Said, said he'd like to see the death penalty allowed in Michigan — particularly for those like Lopez who are previous felony offenders.
"He was supposed to be in jail for 20 years; they let him out in 12 years, which is getting everybody crazy," Amed Said told Hewett and other reporters. "He should not be getting out. And, if he got out the first time, no promises he's not gonna get out another time."
"My brother was the heart of the family," he added. "So, we lost the heart."
Lopez's trial will be held on a date yet to be determined in Wayne County Circuit Court.