DETROIT – The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office has returned a warrant submitted by the Detroit Police Department for further investigation in the shooting death of a man at a gas station on Gratiot Avenue.
According to prosecutors, the warrant was missing documents needed to complete its review.
Joshua Lewis was shot and killed by the gas station’s clerk Monday. The warrant was submitted by DPD on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the suspect in the shooting has been released pending investigation.
“The Gratiot gas station shooting occurred on Monday, October 12th. We did not receive the warrant request until Wednesday, October 14th, and it was missing documents necessary for a proper review and charging decision. We will not have the information that we need today. As a result, by law the suspect will be released today pending a charging decision in this case,” Worthy said in a statement on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened or even the 20th, but it seems to be occurring with much more frequency lately. Just yesterday, we had two other homicide cases that had to be returned to DPD because they were missing so many basic reports and evidence that it completely prevented us from going forward. This is very disturbing.”
The return of the warrant comes a day after Lewis' family demanded answers and action.
Lewis was shot and killed by a teenage clerk Monday night over a dispute involving one of the machines inside of the business, his family said.
Initial police reports said Lewis may have been robbing the store. A hammer was found near his body, along with a bag containing an unknown amount of money. Community members said even if that was true, he didn’t deserve to die.
Witnesses said the 18-year-old clerk shot Lewis from behind the bulletproof glass with an AK-47.