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Nightside Report May 17, 2021: Man sentenced for shooting 13-year-old boy in the head at Detroit gas station, Gov. Whitmer didn’t follow MDHHS travel guidelines to quarantine after Florida trip

Here are tonight’s top stories

Southfield man sentenced for shooting 13-year-old boy in the head at gas station

Southfield man sentenced for shooting 13-year-old boy in the head at Detroit gas station

DETROIT – Damarian Johnson was 13 years old when he was shot in the head at a Detroit gas station.

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“I want you to know that day was the worst day of my life,” Johnson’s mother, Diane Brathwaite, said. “The day you shot him. He was learning to drive earlier that day. Now he’s back to being an infant again.”

Johnson is nearly 16 now and has severe brain damage because of the shooting.

“He can’t walk. He can’t talk. He can’t laugh. He can’t smile. The only way he can express emotion is crying. Pain is the only emotion I’ve seen since this happened,” Diane Brathwaite said.

Click here to read more.

The latest: Michigan coronavirus cases up to 876,854; Death toll now at 18,627

Metro Detroit weather: Summer-like days with some midweek rain

All the heat we missed out on earlier this month was just on backorder, apparently. We’ve got some truly summer-like days just around the corner.

Click here to read the full forecast.

4 Fast Facts

  • Damarian Johnson was 13 years old when he was shot in the head at a Detroit gas station. Click here to read more.
  • Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on Monday announced former assistant police chief James White has been named the city’s interim police chief. Click here to read more.
  • Marilyn Langley, whose vulnerable husband with dementia and Parkinson’s disease, was targeted at a family yard sale spent most of the day sitting in the same spot during the event. Click here to read more.
  • It’s been a mystery for 11 years since 55-year-old JoAnn Matouk Romain was found dead in the Detroit River 70 days after she disappeared following a church service she attended in Grosse Pointe Farms. Click here to read more.

Be Informed

Gov. Whitmer didn’t follow MDHHS travel guidelines to quarantine after Florida trip

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s trip to Florida to see her father in March is raising some new questions.

This time it’s about whether the governor followed the travel guidelines her own health department published a couple of weeks prior to the controversial trip.

Click here to read more.

Stores, shoppers navigate new CDC guidelines for mask use

The mask mandate has been lifted for fully vaccinated people in Michigan, but businesses can still choose to enforce a mask policy.

As of May 15, fully vaccinated Michigan residents don’t have to wear a mask in most indoor or outdoor settings. On Monday, Meijer said fully vaccinated people will no longer be required to wear masks inside stores.

Click here to read more.


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Questions about coronavirus? Ask Dr. McGeorge



About the Author
DeJanay Booth headshot

DeJanay Booth joined WDIV as a web producer in July 2020. She previously worked as a news reporter in New Mexico before moving back to Michigan.

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