CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — According to Clinton Township police, it was around 9 p.m. Thursday when they responded to a domestic violence call on Woodward Street.
There, they found a deceased person who suffered from a gunshot wound.
Three women who live across the street from where the alleged murder happened told 7 Action News they heard the gunshots, saw the suspect confess to the murder and were the ones who called police.
The first neighbor told our team that she rushed to the front yard when she heard the gunshots.
She told us she was standing in front of the house where the sound came from when the homeowner came out the front door. She said he looked directly at her.
"He said on the porch, ‘I shot her!’ I’m like, ‘You what?’ and he’s like “I shot her!’"
The women told us that behind the homeowner, she could see his wife slumped over.
All three neighbors told us the homeowner is a young father who is in the military.
They told us him and his wife have lived in the home with their three young children for a few years now and were going through a divorce.
The women said they've even watched the children for the couple before.
"They would come over and they would call my mother 'grandma,' and they were just like another family."
"They seemed like a happy family," another neighbor said. "But what goes on behind closed doors, we don’t know."
According to the second neighbor, only two of the couple's young children were home at the time of the alleged murder.
She told us that after the gunshots, she saw the two children run from the house and followed them.
"I yelled their names, they came running to me," the neighbor said. "I gave them hugs, got them in the truck and all I wanted to do was keep them safe at that point."
It was the third neighbor who called the police.
All three women told us the situation is shocking to them, as the husband always seemed happy and was even singing in his front yard putting up Halloween decorations hours before the alleged murder.
The husband was taken into custody when police arrived.
The neighbors told us that the couple's children were taken by family that night.
The incident comes as Michigan State Police report domestic violence fatalities are on the rise in our state.
If you have any information please contact the Clinton Township Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 586-493-7857.
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text Michigan's Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-VOICE-DV. It operates 24/7 every day of the year.
Related: Michigan resources for survivors of domestic violence
