DETROIT – When a Metro Detroit teenager was found shot to death in the basement of a Detroit apartment building, some claimed that he was lured to the city as a robbery target -- but Detroit police say otherwise.
Officials say that Jacob Hills, of Grand Blanc, was found dead in a basement laundry room at a Detroit apartment on Monday, July 25. The 18-year-old reportedly went to a party with friends in Detroit the Saturday prior.
The teen’s family had not heard from him and was expecting to, and began searching for him on Sunday and Monday. Police found the 18-year-old’s body Monday at an apartment building on Warren Avenue near Outer Drive, near the Detroit-Dearborn Heights border. Officials said Hills was shot several times.
Hills’ family members tell Local 4 that they believe the teen was lured to the city so people could steal his AR-15 and money he received for graduating high school. Police reportedly found Hills’ car at a hookah lounge in Dearborn Heights, and the AR-15 he received as a graduation gift was allegedly missing from it.
However, Detroit police do not believe that Hills was “lured” to Detroit as a target.
“He elected to come to the city,” Detroit police Commander Michael McGinnis said of Hills. “There has been some discussion about him being lured to the city, and our investigation does not support that information. The information we’re working with indicates that he willingly came to the city. And after he was in the city, he encountered someone who decided to take his life.”
Detroit police say they are in communication with someone believed to be associated with Hills -- possibly a teenager from Oxford -- in hopes of learning more about what happened. The unnamed person is not being considered a person of interest at this time, officials said.
No other details have been provided at this time. Anyone with information is asked to call Detroit police at 313-596-2260.
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