Detroit judge: Drive-by shooting that killed 11-year-old 'gives our city a bad name'

One of four men allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old Detroit girl while she slept on a couch wore a tether that tracked his movements during the shooting, putting him at the scene of the crime, according to prosecutors.

Nasir Garrett was ordered on Tuesday to stand trial on multiple charges, including first degree murder, in connection with the death of Lamara Green after a preliminary exam in Detroit's 36th District Court.

District Judge Kenneth King admonished the defendant, calling the shooting "reckless, incredibly dangerous, incredibly stupid."

"This is a house full of children, a house full of people," said King said before he ordered Garrett to stand trial. "We have an 11-year-old girl who lost her life over this nonsense. ... It's this kind of stuff that gives our city a bad name, shooting into an occupied house at 4 or 5 in the morning."

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Garrett was charged along with two other men — Tahkari Turner, 18, and Hershel Marion Jr., 19. Robert Turner, 20, faces a weapons charge, accessory after the fact and one count of tampering with evidence in connection with the shooting.

The three other men all waived their right to a preliminary exam and will stand trial in Wayne County.

The shooting happened on Feb. 20. The four men allegedly drove by a home at 4:15 a.m. on Pennsylvania Street in Detroit and fired 23 shots at the home, striking and killing Glenn.

During Garrett's preliminary exam Tuesday, prosecutors presented evidence from his GPS tether — he was wearing a tether from a previous carjacking offense — that showed his movements early in the morning Feb. 20, the day of the shooting. He and three others left a home on Buffalo Street in Detroit around 1:30 a.m. Feb. 20, and ultimately ended up driving past the Pennsylvania Street home where Lamara slept inside.

“We tracked Nasir Garret to the exact location of the shooting," said Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Sarah Bonomo.

One of the men remained in the car, Bonomo said, while the three others got out and shot at the house.

"We can see muzzle flashes coming from three different locations, and there's one person in the car with their foot on the brake," Bonomo said. "We know this because the brake lights are lit up. We see shadows running back to vehicle, it looks like two but could be three. Someone is sitting in the car with their foot on the brake, waiting for the three shooters to run back to the car."

While Bonomo did not specifically identify Garrett as being one of the shooters, she said whether he was shooting or waiting in the car, it was first-degree murder through aiding and abetting.

Defense attorney William Glenn said prosecutors don't know how many people total were in the car. There could be more than the shooters and the driver, he argued. He tried to say he could not say for certain if Garrett was in the car, but King interrupted him, pointing out that the GPS tether showed he was on Pennsylvania at the time of the shooting.

"You don’t know if Mr. Garrett is in the backseat sleeping or anything," Glenn said. "Just because we have a tether report doesn’t mean Mr. Garrett shot or killed anyone. There's no direct evidence to my client."

King disagreed and ultimately ordered Garrett to stand trial.

"We have a defendant who, for lack of a better word, was dumb enough to be wearing a tether at the time he did this, allegedly," King said. "At the exact same time the shooting happens, the defendant's tether shows he's there as well. There's nothing to show that the tether came off at any point in time. ... Whether he was the driver of the vehicle as well, whether he was aiding and abetting or one firing shots himself, they’re one in the same."

Lamara ultimately was shot in the head and suffered severe injuries. She was taken off life support Feb. 23, the prosecutor's office said.

Medics did not get to the Pennsylvania home at the same time as police, so Detroit police officers took Lamara to the hospital that morning, one of the first Detroit police officers on the scene Feb. 20 testified.

Bonomo showed photos of outside the house, which was littered with yellow evidence markers, each depicting where a shell casing was found on the street. Bullets struck the walls of the house, the porch frame and windows, the photos showed. One shattered the glass door and went through the front door, ultimately striking Lamara in the head.

Ring video of the shooting shows bullets flying into the house, all in the span of about five seconds, and yelling coming from inside.

Cpl. Raymond Yes, an evidence technician, said they gathered 23 shell casings that were three different calibers: .40 caliber, .45 caliber and 9mm.

Detroit police forensic technician Teron Haynes said he found a black Glock pistol wedged inside an attic opening in the home where Garrett was arrested Feb. 20.

Detroit Police Officer Deval Crenshaw said testing from Michigan State Police showed some of the shell casings from the scene had been fired from the Glock that Haynes found.

This was the second time the house had been shot up in recent months, Detroit Police Chief James White said in February. No one was injured in the first shooting.

White said investigators believe the motive for the shooting was "some conflict between two groups."

Garrett faces up to life in prison if convicted.

kberg@detroitnews.com