Jury Convicts Man Of Killing 12-Year-Old Girl In Dispute Over Cell Phone
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A jury has convicted a Detroit man in the slaying of a 12-year-old honor student during a dispute between his mother and the girl's mother over a cell phone.
Twenty-one-year-old Joshua Brown on Friday was found guilty of second-degree murder, assault with intent to murder and gun charges after a judge declared a mistrial in his case last year. He faces a penalty up to life in prison when sentenced Jan. 6 in Wayne County Circuit Court.
Kade'jah Davis was killed Jan. 31, 2012, by shots fired through the door of her home. Prosecutors say Brown accompanied his mother, Heather, to confront Kade'jah's mother over the disappearance of Heather Brown's cell phone.
Almanda Talton told the Detroit Free Press that Joshua Brown, then 19-years-old, came to her home on Ferguson, near 7 Mile Road and the Southfield Freeway, believing she had the phone.
Talton said the misunderstanding arose after she went to a home-based tax business to discuss a refund she hadn't received. She was told an IRS mistake was to blame. While there, she said she found a cell phone in the restroom and handed it to one of the office workers.
When Joshua Brown arrived at her home, Talton said she thought he was there to discuss her refund, not to accuse her of taking the cell phone. She told him that she didn't have the phone and after a brief conversation, closed the door.
Moments later, shots were fired into the home, striking Kade'jah. The girl, a sixth grade honor roll student at University Yes Academy in Detroit, was taken to an area hospital where she died.
Police say Heather Brown drove her son away from the home after the shooting. The duo was arrested less than six hours later.
Heather Brown pleaded no contest in August 2012 to being an accessory after the fact for driving her son to the killing scene and was subsequently sentenced to five years probation.
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