Fight at Shower Cited in Slaying of 9-Month-Old Boy

A fight over a seat at a baby shower triggered the killing of a 9-month-old boy, according to the victim’s grandmother.

Delric Miller IV died Monday as he slept on the couch in his home on the 8400 block of Greenview Avenue. Police said someone fired at the house with an AK-47-type assault rifle about 4:30 a.m., leaving behind 37 shells. One of the rounds hit the baby, who was pronounced dead at Sinai-Grace Hospital.

Delric’s grandmother, Cynthia Wilkins, said she believes the shooting was retaliation for a skirmish Sunday at a baby shower at Club Celebrity on Plymouth Rd. in Detroit.

“The shower was overbooked, and there was an argument because there weren’t enough seats,” said Wilkins. Her daughter, Diamond Salter, attended the shower, which was thrown by a friend, Wilkins said.

“A woman got mad because she couldn’t find a seat, so she started knocking tables down, and it escalated from there,” Wilkins said. “My daughter and her friends left the club, but (a group of men and women) followed them to a gas station, and there was a fight with one of the guys who was at the shower with my daughter. Then, they followed them to the house.

“I think they came back the next day and shot up the house,” said Wilkins, who sobbed as she recounted the events. “They went to the shower to celebrate life; instead, a life was destroyed.”

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“Life is not valued in Detroit. It’s a war zone here,” Wilkins said. “We need some ground troops patrolling these streets; they send them all overseas, but they need to be here.”

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