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Tag: Southfield

  • Despite history of domestic violence, victim in Christmas shooting in Southfield never called 911, police say

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    Police investigating the Christmas Day deaths of two people at an apartment complex say neither the victim nor her friend ever called 911, despite a history of domestic violence in the victim’s relationship.

    Southfield Police Chief Elvin V. Barren shared this update Monday, hoping that a lesson could be learned from the situation. 

    Just after 9:30 p.m. on Christmas, Southfield Police were called to the Riverstone Apartments on Shiawassee Road for reports of a shooting. Investigators said that, earlier that day, a 23-year-old woman and her 30-year-old boyfriend got into an argument.

    “They began arguing over damaged property and allegations of infidelity, where she believed that he had been unfaithful,” Barren said. “The female victim told officers that she was slapped, strangled and kicked multiple times during the assault.” 

    Instead of calling 911, the woman called her friend to help gather her boyfriend’s belongings.

    “The victim stated that she did not contact law enforcement due to the relationship she had with the suspect’s 3-year-old child, and she didn’t want the suspects arrested, which would prevent him from being with his child,” Barren said. 

    That friend brought her 20-year-old boyfriend from Madison Heights, who was carrying a 9-millimeter handgun. 

    They say the 30-year-old returned later that night, and when they wouldn’t let him inside, he kicked down the door. After another brief altercation between the couple, the 30-year-old gained possession of his AR-15 rifle.

    “Both men immediately began shooting at each other,” Barren said. “Guns will get you in more trouble than they will ever get you out of.” 

    The friend took her boyfriend to the hospital, where he later died.

    Meanwhile, the 23-year-old victim hid in a bedroom, but she could hear her boyfriend, who had been shot eight times, pleading for help.

    “She exited the nearby bedroom and walked towards the living room to check on him. She observed him hunched over the couch. She observed the assault rifle next to him. He made eye contact with her and shot three rounds at her,” Barren said.

    She walked away with only a gunshot wound to her thumb. Her boyfriend eventually succumbed to his injuries. The 3-year-old boy was in the apartment at the time. He wasn’t hurt and has since been reunited with his biological mother.

    “What I will ask the community or anyone who is the victim of domestic violence — it is the utmost importance if you are a victim of domestic violence, please call 911, after any type of assault,” Barren said.

    Police say they will not be releasing the names of everyone involved.

    An ATF investigation has been opened into the purchase of the AR-15 rifle. 

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  • Joe Louis Southern Kitchen celebrates opening of Southfield location – Detroit Metro Times

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    Joe Louis Southern Kitchen celebrated a grand opening for its second location, with a third set for early next year.

    The boxing-themed brunch spot, named after the great Joe Louis and led by his son Joe Louis Barrow II, opened its doors in November at 29649 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield. It held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

    “My father’s legacy is so strong throughout Detroit and the surrounding communities, we’re excited to feature commemorative items for purchase at our checkout counter — offering people the chance to take home a piece of that legacy after sharing a delicious meal together,” Barrow said. “Patrons who come to our new restaurant in Southfield will truly experience the spirit of Joe Louis while they’re here and it’s inspiring to be the one sharing that with the world.”

    The menu features scrambles, skillets, omelets, sandwiches, and other breakfast-style options. 

    The 5,300-square-foot space seats about 99 diners and staffs 35, the company says.

    The new location even has a gift shop offering Joe Louis merch, a first for the brand.

    “It’s been wonderful to see firsthand how our restaurants resonate with guests,” said Johnny Cannon, co-CEO of Joe Louis Southern Kitchen along with Barrow. “Our original location in Detroit has grown to be a staple of the community and we know those in Southfield will enjoy our unique dining experience centered around family, friends, comfort and connection.”

    The chain opened its first location at 6549 Woodward Ave. in the North End area in 2021. A third Joe Louis Southern Kitchen is planned for downtown Detroit and expected to open in April.

    More information about the chain is available at joelouissouthernkitchen.com and the new location at @JLSKSouthfieldMI on Instagram.


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    Lee DeVito

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  • Triumph Church and Detroit mayoral candidate Kinloch accused of illegal property deal involving old theater site – Detroit Metro Times

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    A new lawsuit alleges that Triumph Church and its pastor, the Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr., who is a candidate for Detroit mayor, violated state and federal laws after the church purchased the former AMC Star Southfield theater site in Southfield.

    The church later conveyed that property to a private limited liability company “controlled exclusively” by Kinloch, according to the lawsuit filed by Highland Park activist Robert Davis in Oakland County Circuit Court on Tuesday. 

    Davis is asking a judge to force the Oakland County Register of Deeds and Equalization Department to release unredacted public records related to the property in Southfield. Davis contends those records, which the county refused to disclose without redactions, could shed light on whether Triumph Church or Kinloch violated state and federal laws.

    The county redacted the purchase price and transfer tax. 

    “This lawsuit is necessary to expose the full extent of what I believe to be unlawful conduct by Triumph Church and its senior pastor, Solomon Kinloch Jr.,” Davis wrote in the complaint. 

    Federal law prohibits religious nonprofits from using tax-exempt resources to enrich insiders. Michigan’s Nonprofit Corporations Act also requires nonprofit officers to act in the best interests of the organizations and avoid conflicts of interest. 

    Triumph Church, which has more than 40,000 members and seven locations, including two in Detroit with long-delinquent water bills, bought the theater location in 2024, according to real estate records. Two years earlier, Kinloch said Triumph was trying to purchase the property to convert into a church, community space, and a resource center for people in need, Crain’s Detroit reported in 2022. Kinloch said construction would begin in 2023 and take about 18 to 24 months to finish.

    For unknown reasons, that never happened. It’s also unclear why the church would convey the property to an LLC, which would be required to pay taxes.

    Triumph Church declined to answer specific questions about the purchase, including how much the church paid for the property and why it was conveyed to Kinloch. The church also would not say how much Kinloch’s LLC paid Triumph for the property.  

    “We have no response to the continued false allegations and frivolous actions of Robert Davis,” Triumph Church’s Chief of Staff Ralph Godbee, the former Detroit police chief, said in a statement to Metro Times. “They are meritless and simply not true.”

    The site has been vacant since AMC shut down the theater during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. 

    According to the complaint, Davis filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking deeds, purchase documents, and property tax records from Oakland County, but the county’s Register of Deeds and Equalization Department refused to release the information. He is now asking the court to order the release of those records.

    “The requested documents will demonstrate whether Triumph Church’s property purchase was lawful and consistent with its tax-exempt purpose,” the lawsuit states. 

    Federal law prohibits religious nonprofits from using tax-exempt resources to enrich insiders. And the Michigan’s Nonprofit Corporation Act requires nonprofit officers to act in the best interests of the organization and avoid conflicts of interest.

    Kinloch, who finished second in Detroit’s August mayoral primary, will face City Council President Mary Sheffield in the November general election. He has made his leadership of Triumph Church a central theme of his campaign.

    But his mayoral run has also shed some unwanted light on Kinloch and his church. Triumph’s two Detroit churches recently owed nearly $30,000 in delinquent water bills. 

    Davis has also filed county, state, and federal complaints against the church and Kinloch over his $1.3 million home in Oakland Township. Triumph Church bought the 5,177-square-foot house in April 2013 for $841,600, financing the purchase with a $631,200 mortgage, which Kinloch signed on behalf of the church, according to the deed and mortgage records. That left roughly $210,000 to be covered in cash.

    Nine months later, in January 2014, the church sold the property to Kinloch for the same price, and he also financed his purchase with a $631,200 mortgage, leaving $210,000 to be paid in advance, according to deeds and mortgage records. Triumph Church officials declined to say who paid the remaining $210,000 when Kinloch acquired the house. 

    In late July, the Detroit Free Press reported that Kinloch pleaded guilty to assaulting his first wife after threatening her with a butcher knife and beating her with its handle, according to police.

    Kinloch has also faced questions about residency. For most of the past three decades, Kinloch has lived in Oakland County. In March 2024, he registered to vote in Detroit and moved into a downtown condo with his brother, Wayne County Commissioner Jonathan Kinloch. He said he later relocated to another apartment in the same complex in the Greektown area.

    In the latest case, Davis contends Triumph Church is trying to keep the property records from being disclosed. 

    “Triumph Church is seeking to keep the purchase price a secret because they fraudulently conveyed this property” to an LLC controlled by Kinloch, Davis said. Metro Times could not immediately reach Oakland County officials for comment.


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    Steve Neavling

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  • Labeling pro-Palestinian graffiti as ‘antisemitic’ at U-M regent’s office is disingenuous, activists say

    Labeling pro-Palestinian graffiti as ‘antisemitic’ at U-M regent’s office is disingenuous, activists say

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    Jordan Acker, a Jewish member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, quickly condemned the vandalism of his office early Monday as “antisemitism” because the graffiti messages criticized Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.

    Elected officials, along with CNN and other corporate media outlets, repeated the same claims.

    But is it antisemitic to criticize Israel?

    More than 36,000 Palestinians are estimated to have been killed by Israeli bombardments and ground operations in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. On May 20, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu and his defense minister Yoav Gallant, alleging they committed war crimes.

    For reasons that aren’t difficult to understand, Palestinian sympathizers are tired of watching innocent civilians getting slaughtered by the thousands. At university campuses, students are doing what they can to oppose the brutality: They are calling on colleges to divest from companies connected to Israel.

    That’s exactly what led up to the vandalism at Acker’s law office in Southfield. At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor last month, police in riot gear used batons and pepper spray to drive pro-Palestinian activists back from their protest encampment. Acker and other regents have refused the calls to divest and have openly supported Israel’s attacks on Gaza, prompting protesters, including some Jewish students, to protest outside the board members’ homes in May.

    Among the board members, Acker was the most outspoken opponent of the protest.

    When activists scrawled pro-Palestinian graffiti on Acker’s law office early Monday, he called it a “disgusting anti-semitic attack” on the social media platform X and in media interviews. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and state Sen. Jeremy Moss were among the elected officials who also called it antisemitic.

    But the graffiti contained no anti-Jewish messages. It read, “Free Palestine,” “Divest Now,” “UM Kills,” and “Fuck You Acker.” Red handprints were also left on the office’s doors.

    Law enforcement officials adopted similar rhetoric. Southfield police Chief Elvin Barren called the graffiti “a hate crime.” The FBI also joined the investigation.

    Dawud Walid, director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), says supporters of Israel’s war are trying to silence dissent by labeling anti-genocide messages as antisemitism.

    “It’s a very disturbing trend that people who are calling for a ceasefire are being equated to antisemites and Hamas supporters,” Walid tells Metro Times. “This is a very troubling trend. It’s as if Americans can’t hold two ideas at once. We can say that Hamas committed an atrocity, and at the same time, say the Israeli government is committing crimes against humanity.”

    Walid points out that many opponents of Israel’s war are Jewish. In fact, one of the most vocal advocacy groups against the attacks in Gaza is the Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports the liberation of Palestinians. Leaders of the group recently called on the Hamtramck City Council to pass a resolution endorsing a movement that advocates for boycotts and divestment from Israel to pressure the government to stop its brutality.

    Walid also points to Israeli political scientist and author Ilan Pappe, who says he was detained and harassed by federal agents at Detroit Metro Airport last month for being a human rights advocate for Palestinians.

    “Another unfortunate aspect of this is that there are Jewish voices who are being silenced by this narrative,” Walid says. “That’s the irony of this. Their voices are being silenced. It’s bizarre.”

    On X, dozens of people challenged Ackers’s narrative that the graffiti was antisemitic.

    “Call it vandalism, call it criminal, but I don’t see how ‘Free Palestine’ is antisemitic,” @WolverLion wrote.

    Another X user chimed in, “What about this is antisemitic, exactly Jordan? We can’t keep throwing words around like this, they’ll lose their meaning.”

    “This is not antisemitism,” @alex_k99999 tweeted. “If you want to end petty vandalism, stop aiding genocide.”

    At a news conference on Monday, Acker repeated the antisemitism claims, saying he was targeted because he’s Jewish.

    “Make no mistake that targeting individual Jewish elected officials is antisemitism,” Acker told reporters.

    “This has nothing to do with Palestine or the war in Gaza or anything else,” Acker continued. “This is done as a message to scare Jews. I was not targeted here today because I am a regent. I am a target of this because I am Jewish.”

    To anyone who disagrees with him, Acker wrote on X, “it might be a good time to check yourself as to why.”

    Pro-Palestinians disagreed.

    “It’s vandalism and that’s wrong,” @yourauntifa responded. “Is supporting divestment antisemitic? You assume you were targeted because you’re Jewish. Might you have been targeted because you’re very vocal and visible and the culprits knew it would get this level of attention, which they crave?”

    Meanwhile at Wayne State University, pro-Palestinian activists, along with staff and faculty members, are holding a news conference and rally at the corner of Warren and Second to protest campus police’s handling of an encampment last week.

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    Steve Neavling

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  • After being charged with election tampering, Sherikia Hawkins lands job with Pontiac City Council

    After being charged with election tampering, Sherikia Hawkins lands job with Pontiac City Council

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    City of Southfield

    Former Southfield Clerk Sherikia L. Hawkins.

    Less than a year after getting convicted of a felony count of misconduct in office for falsifying election records, Southfield City Clerk Sherikia L. Hawkins landed another job working for taxpayers, Metro Times has learned.

    The Pontiac City Council hired Hawkins to serve as its chief of staff in July 2023. The hiring was not previously reported.

    Hawkins’s life appeared to be heading in a much different direction after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged Hawkins in September 2019 with multiple felony counts that alleged she committed election fraud by tampering with absentee ballots.

    She had faced up to 14 years in prison.

    But in October 2022, Nessel’s office dismissed five felony counts against Hawkins in exchange for her pleading no contest to a felony count of misconduct in office. Hawkins also agreed to resign.

    As a result of the plea agreement, Hawkins was not sentenced to prison or probation.

    In a statement to Metro Times, Pontiac City Council President Mike McGuinness defended the hiring of Hawkins, describing her as “an incredible human being who has worked hard and worked effectively in her role with the Pontiac City Council.”

    McGuinness said the council was “fully aware of the past legal challenges” of Hawkins and said she was “both transparent and responsive when she was asked during the interview process how it might impact the position for which she was under consideration.”

    Hawkins is no stranger to Pontiac. She grew up in the city and interned at city hall when she was a college student. She later worked for the city in various roles, including as clerk.

    “We were sad to see her go because she was such an effective public servant and I’m grateful she was willing to help her hometown again — even though it includes the occupational hazard of anonymous detractors hoping to embarrass her or somehow trying to lead to her unemployment,” McGuinness said. The council president also said Hawkins “has my full support and the full support of our entire Council.”

    He added, “We hired an excellent person and we are grateful she continues to work so hard to help Pontiac residents’ lives improve.”

    During the November 2018 election, Hawkins is accused of altering information on the number of ballots cast to cover up for a mistake made by election inspectors. The inspectors placed 193 ballots in the ballot container without first running them through a tabulator, which was then sealed.

    As a result, the number of votes shown on the tabulator counter was 193 fewer than the number of absentee ballots received by the clerk’s office.

    Hawkins allegedly removed the 193 names from the list of voters who cast absentee ballots in an attempt to cover up the mistake.

    County election officials spotted the change and alerted authorities.

    It’s unclear how much money Hawkins is making in Pontiac. Metro Times couldn’t reach McGuinness, Hawkins, or other city officials for follow-up questions.

    “Her legal record does not define her worth,” McGuinness said of Hawkins in his original statement.

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    Steve Neavling

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  • Due to popular demand, Southfield’s Bacco Ristorante postpones closure

    Due to popular demand, Southfield’s Bacco Ristorante postpones closure

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    Southfield’s Bacco Ristorante has decided to postpone its final day of business, giving fans more opportunities to say goodbye before Chef Luciano DelSignore closes shop.

    “It is with great pleasure that we share another exciting update on behalf of Chef Luciano DelSignore and the esteemed team at Bacco Ristorante,” the restaurant said in a statement. “We are thrilled to announce an extension of Bacco Ristorante’s operations, responding to the extraordinary demand from the upcoming NFL draft events at the end of April as well as the heartfelt requests from cherished guests.”

    The popular upscale restaurant will now remain open through April 28, a month later than the initially announced March 23 closure.

    The restaurant has been in business for more than 20 years. DelSignore opened the restaurant in 2002 and has since expanded with the Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina chain in 2010 and Birmingham’s Casa Pernoi in 2019.

    Reservations can be made at baccoristorante.com.

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    Lee DeVito

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