DETROIT – A man accused of shooting and killing two women and injuring a man at a vacant Southwest Detroit home was arrested and charged this week.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office has charged Gabriel Kieshaun-Dajuan Toler, 36, with murder and assault in connection with the fatal shooting. Toler, from Taylor, was arraigned Friday after being arrested Tuesday, May 14 -- just over one week after the shooting occurred.
Toler is accused of firing shots at a home that was believed to be vacant in a neighborhood on 33rd Street near Michigan Avenue at around 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 5. The area was busy with people at the time due to Cinco de Mayo celebrations.
Lincoln Park woman Hollie Stoops, 41, and Monroe woman May Hernandez, 28, were killed in the shooting. Stoops was shot in the head and back, and Hernandez was shot in the head, officials said Friday.
A 33-year-old Taylor man, whose identity was not released, was also injured in the shooting. He was reportedly shot in the face and in the leg. He was taken to the hospital shortly after.
It’s believed that Toler fired shots at the three victims after a fight escalated between him and Hernandez. Detroit police initially reported that the shooter and victims were believed to know one another.
It was not said what the argument was about. It appears that the three people killed and injured were inside of the home, which appeared to be vacant.
Police initially reported that a man, now believed to be Toler, got out of a newer-model Dodge Durango and “engaged in conversation while the front door was open to the house,” Charles Fitzgerald, assistant Detroit police chief, said after the shooting. The shooter then walked toward the front door and “fired the first couple rounds” before going inside the house and firing “approximately three or four more,” Fitzgerald said.
The shooter walked back to the car and drove off.
Toler was arraigned Friday on two counts of first-degree murder, one count of assault with intent to murder, one count of felon in possession of a firearm, and four counts of felony firearm. He’s scheduled to appear in court next on May 28, and again on June 3.
Another vehicle -- an older Dodge Durango -- pulled up to the house with the newer model at the beginning of the situation, but drove away while the shooter engaged with the group, police said. It was unclear who was in that vehicle, or if they were facing any charges in this case.
Detroit police said that no one was supposed to be in the house, technically, at the time of the shooting. Fitzgerald said it was possible those killed and injured in the shooting were living inside the home.
Hear from police in our initial report in the video player below.