DETROIT – The mother of a Detroit man who was shot and killed on New Year’s Eve says her son’s car was returned to her with evidence from the shooting still left inside.
David Grier, 20, was killed on New Year’s Eve when 13 bullets were shot into his car. David Grier’s mother, Temekia Grier, says there is no reason why she should have five of those casings and fragments in her possession while the investigation into her son’s murder continues.
Ever since her son’s death, Temekia Grier has been trying to work with investigators to solve his murder.
“The detective that was handling the case, when he first got in contact with me, he said he couldn’t identify my son,” Temekia said. “There was no ID.”
However, after that brief conversation, Temekia says she never heard from detectives regarding her son’s wallet or clues that could have potentially led to solving her son’s murder. A few weeks later, Temekia was able to pick up her son’s car from the Detroit Police Department’s (DPD) impound -- but she didn’t know that there was still evidence inside.
Temekia says that she discovered David’s ID inside the impounded vehicle, within the car’s console. Unfortunately, her discovery did not stop there.
“I found over five bullets. In the vehicle still,” Temekia said.
The mother discovered five casings and rounds inside the car that were potentially overlooked by homicide investigators at DPD.
“It’s horrible to even see that still in my possession when it should be in the custody of authorities,” Temekia said.
One of those casings was even found in a liquor bottle Temikia had also been inquiring about.
“Here it is, I find the bottle of liquor, never opened in the back of the vehicle on the floor,” Temikia said.
Local 4 spoke to DPD about the issue. Although several casings were found outside at the scene, Commander Eric Decker says he has no idea why investigators never found the evidence inside the vehicle to begin with.
“Not exactly sure why these were not recovered,” Decker said. “When I spoke to Ms. Grier, she said that they were in plain sight. Those are something that our evidence techs should have observed and recovered.”
An investigation has been opened to find the exact reason why that evidence was not recovered initially. Regardless, Temikia is saying none of this should have been overlooked, and she’s hoping whoever takes the evidence off her hands will actually take the time to take a deeper look into her son’s case.
“I don’t want the wrong people to get it if it’s not going to be used in the right way,” Temekia said.
To make matters worse, David Grier was killed just a few weeks before his 21st birthday. His mother says she doesn’t want any other parent to have to experience the pain she has.
Police are looking for a dark colored SUV in connection with the shooting of David Grier. Authorities believe two shooters may be responsible for his death.
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