VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A six-year saga surrounding the horrific murder of Egypt Covington has come to a close. The remaining two men charged in the 2017 murder have been sentenced to prison.
Shandon Ray Groom and Timothy Eugene Moore appeared in court Thursday, Oct. 5, for sentencing in their role in the 2017 home invasion and murder of Covington in Van Buren Township. Both men took and had pleaded guilty.
Groom was sentenced to 17-26 years.
Moore sent the courtroom and Covington’s family into an outrage by claiming he was “pushed into the plea,” and alleging “there is more to the story and the family “will never get closure.”
Judge Evans cleared the courtroom briefly and once the hearing resumed, Moore apologized and said he willingly accepted the plea and took responsibility for his role. He was sentenced to 20-55 years on second-degree murder and firearms charges.
In May, Shane Lamar Evans was the first sentenced in connection with Covington’s death. He was sentenced to 15-25 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
Murder details
Covington was found dead at 7:15 p.m. June 23, 2017, in her home in the 45000 block of Hull Road in Belleville. Her hands had been bound with holiday string lights and she had been shot in the head.
Covington lived in a duplex, and on the other side was a neighbor who ran a legal marijuana business. Evans said in court that he led the other two men to Covington’s duplex and told them the neighbor had marijuana that would be easy to steal.
A prosecutor used the phrase “robbery gone bad.”
“I knew he was out of town,” Evans said in a police interview. “I knew he was out of his house. I said, ‘Go to the right.’ I knew 100% no one was in that house. They went to the wrong door.”
Covington was described by family and friends as a very talented woman who could sing, play guitar, and had a captivating personality. She worked as a bartender at Fraser’s Pub in Ann Arbor and was an account manager.
Moore, Evans, and Groom were arrested and charged with Covington’s murder more than three years after her death -- Moore and Evans in November 2020 and Groom the following month.
Groom and Moore are cousins from Toledo, Ohio. Evans lived three miles from Covington’s duplex.