Teen dies days before stabbing sentencing • Girl kidnapped in Detroit • Ascension St. John doctors strike
FRIDAY NEWS HIT - An 18-year-old who was set to be sentenced in a fatal stabbing soon died in a car crash Tuesday.
Collin West, 18, pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do great bodily harm and second-degree home invasion in connection with the 2022 stabbing of 14-year-old Trent Redstrom.
"I’m devastated for the family, I’m devastated for him. It’s absolutely tragic. And I feel if he would have been sentenced two weeks ago, I think he would have been in jail right now, and he’d still be alive," said Sheila, the mother of one of the victims hurt in the stabbing.
Attorney Jeffery Cojocar represented Collin and was getting his client ready for the upcoming sentencing.
"I could not have been more surprised and saddened and shocked," Cojocar said. "He was optimistic and positive, and he was hopefully relying upon some of the information that we provided to the court."
Child sexually assaulted by kidnapper
A 10-year-old girl was found over three hours after she was abducted by a stranger while walking home from school with a friend on Wednesday afternoon.
Sources told FOX 2 that the girl was also sexually assaulted by the kidnapper, in his home off Braile Street near Fenkell Avenue in Detroit.
The two friends, both 10, were walking back from Gompers Elementary School on the city's west side when a 59-year-old man allegedly struck up a conversation with them, according to Detroit police. One girl went with the man, while the other continued walking home.
"I’m not surprised," said Wilma Butler, who has lived in the same Detroit neighborhood for 10 years – the same block the girl was abducted from. "It’s not safe for anybody. It's not safe for little boys to be by themselves, let alone a little girl."
Butler said she is not surprised because of the number of sex offenders in the area.
Ascension St. John doctors go on strike
Citing conditions in the emergency room, doctors at Ascension St. John in Detroit walked the picket line Thursday.
They'll be on strike for 24 hours as they demand better working conditions. According to the doctors, some patients are waiting upwards of 15 hours to be seen in the ER.
"Ask anybody leaving the ER today. These are not made-up numbers. There are people coming in who are concerned they're having a heart attack, they're concerned they're having a stroke, broke a bone, they had a bad fall, they have a parent whose suffering, a child whose suffering," Dr. John Bahling said.
He said its a problem plaguing emergency rooms around the country.
"(It's) happening not just here at St. John, but all over the country with private equity buying up physician staffing groups," he said ,"so we're just fortunate enough that you had a group of people here - we're Detroiters, and we're used to fighting and so Detroit is going to be on the forefront of issues like this."
Police prep for NFL Draft
Detroit police will work with other agencies during the NFL Draft. Authorities shared the efforts to keep people safe during a press conference Thursday, a week before crowds head to the city for the three-day event.
Police talked with law enforcement in other cities that have held drafts to help them plan their strategy.
Col. James Grady, with Michigan State Police, said they'll have 50 troopers helping each day, as well as K9, bomb squads, and emergency support teams on standby. The operations center will also be monitoring crowds throughout the event.
Other agencies who will help include the sheriff's offices in Oakland and Wayne counties, federal teams from the FBI, ATF, and homeland security, as well as local police from Southfield, Wayne State University, and across the border in Windsor.
New Lions jerseys revealed
The Lions are going with a white jersey, a Honolulu blue jersey, and a new alternate jersey, which will be black. It is the first time they've worn black since 2007.
But the best was saved for last - a show-stopping blue helmet with a black Lion logo on the side and stripes down the middle, to pair with the alternate jersey at the official tonight at a season-ticket holder event down at Ford Field.
Other changes you may have noticed right away - the numbers and the names with more of a block style. The white numbers on the blue jerseys certainly pop way more than the old silver ones.
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Daily Forecast
Today will be chillier, and that cooler feeling remains through the weekend.
What else we're watching
Detroit police are cracking down on abandoned vehicles. Tow trucks are hitting the streets to remove them.
Inkster police are investigating a shooting that happened early Friday at Cherry Hill and Inkster roads. It is unclear if anyone was hurt or killed.
Carjacking suspects were arrested at a Walmart in Dearborn on Thursday night. Police said the crime happened in Detroit on Wednesday.
Rapper Big Sean, singer Bazzi, and the Detroit Youth Choir will all take the stage in Downtown Detroit for the 2024 NFL Draft.
Happy Friday! Check out our weekend event guide here.
Ford recalls over 450,000 vehicles due to loss of drive power
Ford Motor Co. is recalling more than 450,000 compact SUVs and pickup trucks over loss of drive power because of a battery issue.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the recall in a notice Wednesday, which affects 2022-2024 model year Bronco Sport SUVs and Maverick compact pickup trucks manufactured between 2022-2023.
An undetected low battery charge could lead to some electrical accessories such as hazard lights not functioning properly or cause a loss of drive power in affected vehicles, according to the NHTSA. The issue affects 456,565 vehicles.
Dealers will recalibrate the body control and powertrain control modules to fix the issue for free, the recall notice said.
