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We know a lot happens throughout the week, and you may not catch all of our stories here at WXYZ. So we've decided to gather the most talked-about stories from the past week all in one place that you can check out during your free time over the weekend.
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Here are the buzz-worthy stories from the week of September 16th:
Eastern Market shooter will not be charged, acted in self-defense, prosecutor says
The shooting at Eastern Market after the Detroit Lions game last Sunday made headlines throughout the week, and on Wednesday, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the man involved in the shooting will not be charged.
Worthy said that the shooter acted in self defense after an altercation led to a physical fight and then the shooting that killed two people.
Jalen Welch, 25, and Rayshawn Palmer, 40, were identified as the two people shot. Both of them were Detroit residents.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said both men were shot in the head. Palmer was pronounced dead at the scene. Welch was taken to the hospital, where he died the following day.
The shooter, who the prosecutor’s office said is a 40-year-old man, remained at the scene after the shooting and was taken into police custody.
The shooter is a CPL holder and so was Welch, the prosecutor’s office said.
According to the prosecutor’s office, there was a physical altercation near Eastern Market’s Shed 6 involving several men. The shooter was near the altercation but was not involved.
Shortly after that, about five men had a verbal argument, the prosecutor’s office said. They said “Welch walked into the middle of the verbal argument holding a pistol” and that he was holding it “in a threatening manner.”
The shooter took his concealed pistol out from near his waist band and shot Welch one time.
Palmer's family is heartbroken and frustrated, saying justice wasn’t served in his shooting death. His family gathered Wednesday evening at the exact spot where he was killed, trying to lift one another up during this difficult time.
“The bullet ricocheted. I understand that, but you're responsible for my cousin’s death. Pay for it," Palmer’s cousin Marcella Madison said.
Metro Detroit families, business owners feeling pinch of high egg prices
If you've been grocery shopping lately, you may have noticed that egg prices are rising again. After going up and then going back down, prices are back up to $5 or $6 in some cases.
But, why are they ringing up higher than they used to?
"It’s really due to the shortage in supply. I mean the bird flu that happened wiped out a whole population," said Eric, store director for Holiday Market.
Eric says they've been dealing with the fluctuating egg prices for more than a year.
“But stock wise … we’re pretty much, I would say 90-percent back in stock," he said.
And it's not just grocery stores, egg prices are impacting other businesses.
Martin’s Coney Island in Southfield is a top spot for breakfast, and the owner, Sokol, is hoping egg prices start to go down soon.
“We do have a lot of loyal customers, so we do not want to just change the prices," he said.
'Hundreds of people know about him.' Strangers in Royal Oak band together to help blind man in need
Jillian Ripper is a Royal Oak resident, one of the hundreds who for years has seen another Royal Oak resident, 72-year-old Francis (Frank) Sawicki selling pencils at 13 Mile and Woodward Avenue, or trying to cross the street to the Coney Island at 12 Mile and Main Street.
"Hundreds, hundreds of people know about him," said Jillian. "He’s blind and he always comes over here to eat."
In fact it was just this past Thursday at 12 Mile and Main Street that Jillian saw Frank seemingly trying to cross and stopped her car to ask him if he needed help.
"Frank said yes and that he lived at the motel and that he’s not going to be there much longer because he’s getting evicted," said Jillian. "When he said that it just really hit me."
A complete stranger to Frank, Jillian got online, created this GoFundMe and posted it to a Royal Oak residents Facebook page asking more strangers if they would like to help Frank.
Tuesday morning Jillian allowed 7 News Detroit to come with her as she went to the motel Frank lives at to tell him about the GoFundMe, and the money raised.
Bill said that the money from the GoFundMe will be able to help Frank stay living where he is through the fall, but in the long term he will need more help.
'I was able to slide right through.' Deputy recalls climbing into moving truck to save driver
A life-saving scene played out on a busy stretch of Gratiot Avenue last week with a heroic act by a Macomb County sheriff's deputy.
Deputies Nicole Miron and Anthony Gross were notified on Sept. 12 around 2:15 p.m. that a silver GMC Sierra pickup truck was driving erratically in Mount Clemens on southbound Gratiot Avenue near Church Street.
“I pretty much hung out the window as much as I possibly could and the vehicle was pretty close so didn’t make it too tough," Miron said.
They found the driver on Gratiot Avenue near Remick Drive and turned on their lights and siren, but the 63-year-old driver failed to stop and continued on at about 5 mph.
“So once I get in, I realized the park's right at the steering wheel. I put it into park immediately… checked on him, he was in a daze, he wasn’t sure what was going on," Miron added.
Gross was driving and Miron rolled down her window and tried to get the driver to stop, but he appeared to be in a daze. The driver managed to briefly hit his brakes and that's when Miron climbed from her passenger seat into the moving truck. The deputy was able to stop the truck.
“Once she started hanging out the window, I was just trying to keep us aligned with him," Gross said.
"Luckily, I am very small. When I went through the window, it was a big-size front kind of window, I was able to slide right through. I don't think any of my gun or gear touched him, so I slid through, my small stature helped and the fact that we were a two-man car helped," Miron told us on Wednesday.
Meet the man who has spent the last three decades making a positive impact on Detroit's Mexicantown
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrating with the theme 'Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together,' and I had a chance to meet one man who's lived his life helping to shape the future of others by making a positive impact on Detroit's Mexicantown for nearly three decades.
One pioneer is Frank Venegas, Jr. Frank built a manufacturing empire in Southwest Detroit, and he's the founder and chairman of Ideal Group, a family-owned and operated business conglomerate.
He's made it a mission to improve the neighborhood, and in the 1990s, he sat down with members of four of the five gangs and founded GRACE – the "Gang Retirement and Continuing Education and Employment" program. His company hired dozens of former gang members.
"We had literally had guys that shot at a, at a car, and two weeks later they're sitting down having lunch with each other, laughing and building things together," Venegas recalled.
He also helped spearhead the Whippet Wipeout Campaign.
"I didn't like them all over the street and everywhere," Frank said.
Now there's a state law banning the nitrous oxide containers that some use to get high, thanks in part to his grassroots campaign.
Speaking of roots, Ideal Group also helped launch Cadillac Urban Gardens — the largest raised bed urban garden in Southeast Michigan. All of the produce is free.
And he's cultivated young minds, too, partnering with Detroit Cristo Rey High School's Corporate Work Study Program.
Here are the best routes to take the see Fall colors around metro Detroit
Every year, the County Road Association of Michigan puts out a list of the best roads to drive to take in all the fall colors. And this year, there are some new roads that we wanted to check out.
Lake Shore Drive made the list of best roads to check out the fall colors, between Marter and Verner. We asked residents what they think makes it different than other areas in the fall.
“I would say the water for sure, I would say the water with the colors, you can’t beat it," said Nany Ochs from Gross Pointe Parks.
Lake Shore Drive is wonderful but there are other great areas too. Also making the list, Tillson Street in Romeo. There you can take in the Fall colors and the spooky decor.
In Oakland County, there are several spot to check out in Independence Township, Commerce Township, White Lake, Lake Orion, Oxford, and Southfield.
In Washtenaw County, there's North Territorial between US-23 and M-52, or Huron River Drive between Mast and US-23.
He's not allowed to be a police officer. Why is he a Wayne County Sheriff's deputy?
Until his current job, Jamonte Horton had been fired or forced to resign from every police department he’s worked for.
He failed background checks with the Farmington Hills and Waterford Police Departments. The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office turned down his application to work there, and the Detroit Police Department rejected him twice.
According to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, Horton is not allowed to be a police officer. But he works as a Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputy today.
“Some people are meant to be the police, and some people are meant to call the police,” said Ricardo Moore, a Detroit Police Commissioner. “He’s someone who’s meant to call the police.”
Horton’s problems began early in his career. While only a cadet with Wayne State Police, he showed up to a party with a loaded gun. After a fight broke out, Horton was shot and returned fire. He resigned in 2015 for his role in the shooting.
He later joined the Ypsilanti Police Department, where Horton was written up for missing shifts, “found sleeping in his patrol vehicle” and caught sharing a homemade pornographic video with other officers while on duty.
He was written up for putting his fellow officers at risk like when he left a sergeant alone during a traffic stop and missed a knife during a search of a domestic violence suspect.
While working a sexual assault investigation, Horton failed “to follow simple orders” that led the case to be ignored for two-and-a-half months, according to a Wayne County background check, leaving the suspect free on the streets.
“Victims are the reason why police departments are in business. To help victims, and help people from being victims,” Commissioner Moore said.
“He shouldn’t be trusted with the privilege of being a police officer.”
'Egregious' violations
Facing termination from Ypsilanti, Horton resigned in 2019. His chief said he’d been given “multiple opportunities to improve” but still wasn’t capable of “completing his core duties,” like “coming to work” and “remaining awake.”
After being pushed out of Ypsilanti, Horton joined the Highland Park Police Department, where his judgment was questioned early and often.
In 2020, Horton responded to the scene of a stabbing at a strip club along Woodward Avenue. When it was time to handcuff a suspect, Horton was seen handing his department-issued AR-15 to a strip club security guard—a violation of department policy.
In a separate incident, while searching for a suspect, Horton did a u-turn across two lanes of traffic, striking another vehicle. According to Highland Park P-D, he kept driving without checking on the driver he just hit.
But the final straw came in 2022. While Horton was out on patrol, he heard over the radio that Detroit and Michigan State Police were engaged in a high-speed pursuit.
According to Highland Park’s investigation, Horton was “ordered not to get involved” in the chase, but he did anyway. When he did, according to investigators, Horton manually turned off his body camera during the pursuit.
When questioned by internal affairs, Horton said the camera malfunctioned.
“I didn’t engage in no chase, I wasn’t involved in a chase or anything,” Horton said during an interview.
But GPS data confirmed he was involved in the chase and, according to internal affairs, Horton made “several false statements” during the investigation.
Highland Park called Horton’s misconduct “egregious" and, as it prepared to fire him, he resigned in October 2022.
Three weeks later, he was hired by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy.
Significant deputy shortage
Since he resigned in Highland Park two years ago, Horton’s law enforcement license was deactivated by the state, meaning he can’t serve as a police officer until it’s turned back on.
But an active law enforcement license isn’t required to work as a deputy inside a jail, where Horton is today.
For years, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office has struggled with understaffing in its jails.
In a bid to increase applicants, the county recently approved pay increases for deputies, but the jail is still significantly short-staffed. As of last week, the county was 344 deputies short.
In a recent recruiting video, Sheriff Raphael Washington encouraged potential applicants to join the county's ranks: “We want to hire individuals committed to serving our citizens with honor and integrity," he said.
But Glenn Anderson, a Wayne County Commissioner, said Horton’s background suggests he should not be serving as a deputy.
“It’s very surprising that with a record like that, we would have him working at the sheriff’s department,” Anderson said.
7 News Detroit requested an interview with Sheriff Raphael Washington or a member of his staff to understand why the county hired Horton, but a spokesman declined our request.
At a recent budget meeting in Livonia, reporter Ross Jones questioned Sheriff Washington about the hiring.
“Did the sheriff’s office lower its standards to hire Jamonte Horton?” Jones asked.
“We never lower standards,” Washington said. “Never.”
“How troubled are you that he was found to be untruthful?” Jones asked.
“I’m troubled that that happened, if that is indeed a fact," Washington replied. "I don’t know that to be a fact. Nobody has talked to me about that.
Washington said he had no knowledge that Horton was fired or forced to resigned from previous agencies, stressing that he was not involved in his hiring.
But Washington’s signature is found on the bottom of a 2022 request submitted to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, or MCOLES, seeking to have Horton’s law enforcement license reactivated, allowing him to serve as a police officer.
Last week, the state said no.
“Mr. Jamonte Horton was issued a written notice of its intent to deny reactivation of his law enforcement officer license for failure to comply with the Character Fitness Standard,” said MCOLES Executive Director Tim Bourgeois.
Horton’s license remains inactive, but he has the right to a contested hearing or to appeal the MCOLES ruling. He remains a deputy working in the jail today.
7 News Detroit contacted Horton through text messages, e-mails, phone calls and a letter. He did not respond.
