Feeds2 men arrested in cab driver’s death
Two men have been arrested and one has been formally charged with murder in the July 1 death of an Inkster resident found fatally shot inside his cab.
Vincent Crawford, 20, of Inkster, was formally charged with first-degree, premeditated murder and felony firearms at the 22nd District Court in Inkster in the death of James Brooks, 30. Crawford was arrested on Thursday, July 27 at his home on the 4500 block of Isabelle Street, said Inkster Det. Tony Delgreco.
“We think the motive for (the shooting) was revenge, and we’re going to leave it at that at this point,” he said.
A second man was arrested in connection with the shooting death, but has not yet been charged. It is generally the policy of The Inkster Ledger-Star not to identify an individual accused of a crime by name until he or she is formally charged.
Judge Sylvia A. James remanded Crawford to the Wayne County Jail to await his preliminary examination, which is scheduled at 9 a.m. on Aug 9 at the 22nd District Court.
Brooks, who just celebrated his 30th birthday when his body was discovered in his cab in front of a home on Williams Street, was shot several times in the upper body.
Residents called police to report that a body was discovered in a vehicle, though there were no calls to report gunfire within the time frame Brooks was shot, said Deputy Police Chief Greg Hill after the incident occurred.
A subsequent search executed at Crawford’s Isabelle Street home after he was arrested turned up the handgun police believe was used to commit the crime, Delgreco said.
At least one of Brooks’ friends called The Ledger-Star to express shock about the man’s death. “I worked with him for a while,” said one man, who asked that his name not be used. “He was a good guy.”
Police are not commenting about the circumstances that led to Brooks’ death, but have previously said that they believe Brooks was not killed where he was found. Brooks’ last known address was on Notre Dame Street, police said.
