DETROIT – Detroit police are investigating the shooting death of a man whose body was found in the backyard of an abandoned house.
The body was found Friday morning on St. Mary's Street on the city's west side.
Police who live in the area told Local 4 they had heard gunshots during the early-morning hours.
"I was sitting on my couch watching TV and I heard three gunshots first. Then I heard two different types of shots," said David Anthony.
Family and friends at the scene told Local 4 the victim is 23-year-old Marcus Jackson.
Police sources said Jackson was shot in the chest.
Jackson's girlfriend, Rose Parker, told Local 4 she last talked with him at about 1 a.m. Friday and that he just stopped answering his phone and texts.
"My heart dropped, my stomach dropped, twisted all up into knots, because I knew. Every morning when he wake up he'd always come to my house," Parker said.
Parker said Jackson leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter.
Local 4 finds possible evidence in case
Local 4 photographer Jacob Nagel was working the case on St. Mary across the street from where Jackson's body was found when he found a gun in the grass.
He didn't touch it and police were called.
They identified the gun as a .38 special, a 5-shot revolver.
Police sources tell Local 4 it could be the murder weapon because a revolver holds the shells in the cylinder when shots are fired. No spent shell casings were found near the body.
Police sources tell Local 4 they found the victim's wallet also across the street, but down the block in a different direction. So they might have two killers in the case.
Lanorra Parker who lives nearby wanted to know who found it. We told her, the guy behind the Local 4 camera.
"Thank you Channel 4 for finding that gun cause my grandsons would have had it!" she said.