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Kent County Circuit Court announced on Friday, August 5, 2022 that the man accused of murdering former Michigan footballer Richard Jekel is expected to face open firearm and felony firearm charges.
According to the Grand Rapids Police Department, Devon Tashawn Matthews, the 26-year-old accused, appeared before District Court Judge Jennifer Faber for a preliminary examination hearing on Friday.
Reportedly, Faber decided that there was sufficient evidence linking Matthews to the crime during the four-hour preliminary hearing and referred the matter to the circuit court for further review.
A deeper look into the Richard Jekel murder case
Police reports suggested that on June 6, Richard Jekel was discovered dead and shot just below his left eye while laying in the back seat of the car. When officers found him in his own vehicle, he was draped in a plastic tablecloth.
Shortly after, when police arrived to make an arrest, they discovered Matthews with a gun outside the residence of the victim he had been stalking. In court, authorities stated that the bullet discovered on Jekel's body was fired from the same gun that Matthews had tried to dump.
Based on data from his artificial cardiac pacemaker, doctors determined that Richard Jekel passed away as a result of a gunshot wound at around 10.00 a.m.
According to Dr. Stephen Cohle, a forensic pathology expert, the person who shot Richard Jekel was facing him and was in close proximity based on the location of the wound.
Melissa, Richard Jekel's daughter, reportedly spoke about her father's death and said that there was no apparent reason to kill her father:
“They haven’t been able to make any connection between my dad and Devon at all. It was just a random wrong place, wrong time. He was trying to get to his stalking victim. He killed my dad for no reason. He definitely would’ve killed [his stalking victim] because she was the focus, and then their poor child would grow up without either parent. So I mean it sucks, but I just don’t want to be bitter and let it consume me.”
Devon Matthews is also accused of an aggravated stalking case
On June 6, Matthews was being monitored by the police as a result of a report of aggravated stalking made by a woman residing in the 1900 block of Jefferson Avenue SE.
According to the report, Matthews was connected to a "GPS tether" and officials were able to easily determine his whereabouts.
GPS data indicated that Matthews was driving near Burton Street and Jefferson Avenue, very close to the location of Richard Jekel's vehicle as captured on neighborhood security cameras at the time his heart stopped.
Reportedly, Mathews became aware that the police were following him and decided to run out of his vehicle. Shortly after, officials caught him in a public restroom at The Salvation Army Kroc Center and found his Ruger .380 pistol concealed beneath a roll of toilet paper.
According to Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Monica Janiskee, detectives have tested the revolver and connected it to the bullet casing discovered when police relocated Jekel's body. She stated:
“We know that when they were moving Mr. Jekel from the car, they located a shell casing. We know they also recovered that spent bullet from underneath Mr. Jekel’s body... we know when police were pursuing the defendant, they located the firearm that matched the projectile and casing that were found.”
Subsequently, Matthews' bond has been increased to $50,000 at the hearing for the second aggravated stalking accusation. He's now scheduled to appear in court again next week.
