Posted on February 18, 2014

4 Charged in Detroit Triple Murder; Police Say Victims Stabbed, Tortured, House Torched

Ann Zaniewski, Detroit Free Press, February 17, 2014

Four people have been charged with murder in the deaths of three people who were found stabbed last week in a burning house on Detroit’s west side.

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Tenisha Jackson, 19; Larry Johnson, 20; Rashawn Johnson, 19, and Keeshon Lake, 19, have each been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of felony murder, two counts of armed robbery and one court of arson, according to police. Larry Johnson has also been charged with possessing heroin and a felony firearms offense.

Firefighters were called the afternoon of Feb. 10 to a house fire on the 13000 block of Bentler, just south of I-96 near West Outer Drive. Inside, they found a dying man on the first floor and two dead men in the basement.

Lawrence Bowman, 51, was stabbed multiple times and died from a gunshot to the head, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office.

His 26-year-old son, Nicholas Bowman, and 24-year-old Michael Hoots of Livonia were stabbed to death. {snip}

Detroit Police Sgt. Michael Woody said the men were tortured.

“The nature of the wounds were horrific, all three victims were stabbed multiple times . . . In addition, the fire had been obviously set to cover up what turned out to be a brutal murder in an attempt to destroy potential evidence,” Woody said in a news release.

Hoots’ 2013 Chrysler 200 was missing. Authorities tracked it to the area of Virgil and Plymouth in Redford Township, Woody said. They zeroed in on an address on the 11000 block of Virgil, and arrested Tenisha Jackson and Larry Johnson Feb. 11.

In the house, police found identification belonging to two of the victims, as well as one victim’s personal belongings. There was also bloody clothing in the house, Woody said.

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