DETROIT – A funeral will be held Friday for Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy Corporal Bryant Searcy.
Searcy was killed Sept. 2 while on duty at the Wayne County Jail. Deandre Williams, 28, is accused of attacking Searcy, 50, while the corporal was on duty checking jail cells about 10 p.m. that night. Williams was allegedly trying to escape the jail.
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Searcy was found unresponsive by other deputies at the jail.
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Third New Hope Baptist Church in Detroit. It is closed to the public.
Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said Williams was willing to kill the deputy to try to escape. Williams was charged with premeditated murder, murder of a police officer, felony murder and escaping jail through violence. He was also charged with unarmed robbery for taking Searcy’s jail keys.
Police said Williams could not escape or even get off of the floor he was on. When deputies came to the scene, they found him in his cell.
There is an internal investigation into why Searcy and his partner were not together.
Williams was arrested for armed robbery back in February of this year. He was in jail awaiting his trial. He is accused of stealing $16,000 worth of iPhones and Air Pods from a store in Redford Township.
Prison and court records also show Williams took a plea deal in 2008 for charges tied to a carjacking in Macomb County. While in prison, he was convicted of possessing a weapon. He was paroled in August 2019.
Read back: Detroit men arrested for stealing $16,000 worth of iPhones, Air Pods in Redford Township, police say
Williams was video arraigned on the murder charges Wednesday with the 36th District Court. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 23.