trial for murder By Jeremy Selweski FERNDALE — The Detroit teen accused of killing one boy and severely wounding another in the Dec. 19 shooting at the Ferndale VFW Hall will head to Oakland County Circuit Court on murder charges. On March 4 at a preliminary exam in Ferndale 43rd District Court, Judge Joe Longo ordered that the case of Bobby “Bags” McGowan, 19, of Detroit be bound over to Circuit Court for trial. McGowan faces six criminal counts in the shooting, including open murder, assault with intent to murder and four felony firearms charges. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison. The shooting took place shortly after midnight on Dec. 19 near the tail end of a Sweet 16 birthday party for two Ferndale High School students. It is believed that violence ensued following a dispute between two rival gangs: the “Eight Mile” gang from Royal Oak Township and the “State Fair” gang from Detroit. During the preliminary exam, several witnesses testified about the events that transpired inside the Ferndale VFW Hall, 177 Vester St., that night. Javonte Riggins, 18, said that he was having fun at the party with some friends when four boys he didn’t know entered the hall. A confrontation ensued on the dance floor, he said, between the party crashers and another group of boys. As the argument grew more heated, Riggins heard one group yelling the words “State Fair” while the other was yelling “Eight Mile.” That’s when he saw McGowan pull a sawed-off shotgun from underneath his brown leather jacket and fire it at his friend, 16-year-old Charles Dorchy of Detroit. “There was a crowd of people, and there was a big flash,” Riggins said. “I saw Chucky fly backwards and lie on the floor. … They flicked on the lights, and people were panicking. Chucky was holding his stomach, and his guts were hanging out.” Ferndale police arrived on the scene within minutes. Dorchy was rushed to the hospital; he soon bled to death from the shotgun wound. But Dorchy was not the only one struck by the blast. Tyshawn Thompson, 16, of Royal Oak Township was believed to be the shooter’s intended target. He was hit in the abdomen by the blast, and the shell passed through his body before striking Dorchy and killing him. Thompson was sent to the hospital in critical condition, but managed to survive the shooting. He told the court that he was hospitalized for two weeks, and doctors had to remove three of his ribs and half of his liver. Thompson further testified that he was not fighting with anyone at the party. He said that everything happened so quickly that he did not even see who shot him. “I looked down and I seen fire come up,” he said. “I knew I was shot, so I ran back to the kitchen. … I felt blood and a hole (in my side).” In the kitchen, as the nearly 200 guests were fleeing from the hall, 18-year-old Desiray France said she found Thompson lying on the floor, bleeding heavily from the stomach. She grabbed some napkins and towels and held them against Thompson’s wound until the police and paramedics arrived. After the shot went off, Ray Jackson, 19 — who described both Dorchy and Thompson as “like my little brother” — testified that he grabbed McGowan from behind and tried to snatch the shotgun from his hands. The two boys then wrestled for the weapon on the ground until Jackson gained possession of it. He said that McGowan and the other boys then fled the party, and he ran outside carrying the gun underneath his coat. Fearing that he would be incriminated in the shooting or charged with carrying a concealed weapon, Jackson said, he brought the gun back to his Royal Oak Township home. He then wiped his fingerprints off the weapon, wrapped it in a plastic bag, ran over to the Royal Oak Township Community Center and threw it on the roof. Police later retrieved the gun after questioning Jackson. One witness on the stand gave a more mixed account of the shooting. Jonathan Woods, 16, who is believed to be a member of the same gang as McGowan, told the court that he saw McGowan grab the shotgun from inside his Detroit home before leaving to go the party. However, Woods contended that he and his friends were not there to cause trouble. “I was just trying to have fun — I don’t know what anyone else’s intentions was,” he said. “Everybody was getting rowdy and pushing us, so Bobby said, ‘Let’s get out of here.’ I turned around, and then I heard a shot go off. … It all happened so fast, so I don’t know if Bobby passed the gun to someone else.” Woods claimed that he did not see who fired the shot, but Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor John Skrzynski argued that the teen had changed the story that he initially told to Ferndale police. Skrzynski noted that in Woods’ original statement, he said that he saw McGowan pull the trigger. McGowan’s attorney, Larry Kaluzny, asked Longo to reduce the charge of open murder against McGowan to second-degree murder, but Longo ultimately sided with the prosecution. As Skrzynski pointed out, “There aren’t many reasons to bring a sawed-off shotgun to a party. (McGowan) brought this deadly weapon, loaded and ready to fire. He fired it point-blank at one of the guests at the party. The intent (to kill) is evident.” Skrzynski also suggested that McGowan’s actions may have been motivated by retaliation on behalf of his brother, D.J., who was murdered just a few months before the VFW Hall shooting. McGowan is currently being held without bond in Oakland County Jail. He is scheduled to face arraignment in Circuit Court at 1 p.m. on March 17. You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jselweski@candgnews.com or at (586) 218-5004. |
