FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – Malik Smith, 21, from Farmington Hills, has been sentenced after he attacked an 80-year-old man inside a gym locker room in 2024.
Smith was sentenced to 23 months to 10 years on Tuesday (May 27) in Oakland County Circuit Court.
The 21-year-old got into a fight with the 80-year-old man around 10:45 a.m. on March 1, 2024, in the locker room of the Farmington Family YMCA.
Officials said Smith and the 80-year-old man exchanged words in the locker room and then got into a physical altercation.
Former Michigan Wolverines wide receiver Braylon Edwards was also at the YMCA, and he said he heard the fight and went to see what was going on.
“I walk into the locker room after work, and basically, I hear about four rows behind me arguing about music and how it was being played too loud,” said Edwards. “So I’m not paying attention, and I was just minding my business.
“The noise escalates, and then you can hear some pushing and shoving, so you know what fighting sounds like, but once I hear a thud, that’s when I got up and turned around,” Edwards said.
Edwards, known for his offensive prowess as he is the all-time Wolverines and Big Ten receiving record holder and NFL star, played defense Friday morning for the safety and health of the elderly man.
“And then I see the guy for what I was thinking was reaching for a phone underneath the victim grabs the back of the victim’s head by the hair, and he was about to slam it down on the counter,” Edwards said.
“I didn’t know it was that serious, I mean the victim probably had a serious concussion by nature, but it wasn’t until I talked to the detective Jacobs down in Farmington who told me that if I didn’t step in but at the end of the day that’s what you do,” Edwards said.
