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Posted on Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 2:15 p.m.

Victim's daughter: Man killed in Ypsilanti was trying to intervene in lease dispute

By John Counts

YpsiHomicide2April12012.jpg

A 46-year-old Detroit man was killed at the Peninsular Place apartment complex Sunday night, according to police.

John Counts | AnnArbor.com

The 46-year-old Detroit man killed in Ypsilanti Sunday night was coming to the aid of his 19-year-old daughter who lived at the Peninsular Place apartments with the two suspects, police and family members said.

Police confirmed Monday afternoon that the victim was John Lawrence.

Monday morning, the victim’s daughter Raven Lawrence was cleaning out the apartment she shared with the woman and man, both 20, who were arrested late Sunday night in connection with the death of her father.

The nursing student at Eastern Michigan University said she and her roommate, the 20-year-old woman, were arguing about money.

“It was a situation involving our lease,” she told AnnArbor.com. “He (the boyfriend) wasn’t supposed to be here.”

Raven Lawrence said the man had been staying at the apartment with her roommate and the couple’s 2-month-old baby.

What started out as a conversation about the lease eventually escalated into a heated verbal argument, she said. When she felt threatened, she called her parents, she said.

John Lawrence then drove to Ypsilanti from Detroit with hopes of taking his daughter out of the apartment for the night, Raven Lawrence said.

“My dad came. He had his gun on him and he told me to take it outside,” Raven Lawrence said.

YpsiHomicideApril12013.jpg

A witness captured this picture Sunday night as police investigated a homicide at Peninsular Place.

Courtesy of Kaitlin Vogt

She said she left her dad in the apartment with the two 20-year-olds while she took the gun out to his car. When Raven Lawrence returned, the door was locked.

“I was banging on the door, but they wouldn’t let me in,” she said, adding that she only got back into the apartment when police arrived.

Neighbors recall hearing someone banging on a door and screaming around 8:45 p.m. Sunday.

“… The girl screamed at the top of her lungs,” said EMU student Kaitlin Vogt, who was visiting her boyfriend at the apartment complex Sunday night. “It was the most horrifying scream. I’ll never forget that scream I heard.”

Vogt’s boyfriend, Paul Glinski, also an EMU student, lives two floors above Lawrence’s apartment.

“It was like something out of a movie,” Glinski said of the scream.

When Raven Lawrence got inside the apartment, she said she saw her father lying on the floor. She said she took his pulse and felt nothing. Police soon escorted her out of the apartment.

“The next thing I knew they had him coming out on a stretcher,” she said.

Lawrence said she thought her father was hit on the head with some sort of object, but she couldn’t immediately be certain what kind of object was used. Neither were police, but they said they were investigating whether it might have been a frying pan.

Police are still trying to determine exactly what happened. An autopsy was being performed Monday morning, Ypsilanti police said. The case was initially ruled a homicide, citing blunt force trauma as the cause of death.

The two 20-year-olds were arrested and were being held at the Washtenaw County Jail as the investigation proceeded, police said.

Raven Lawrence said she has lived with the 20-year-old at the apartment since August 2012.

The apartment complex is home to many Eastern Michigan University students. Ypsilanti police are still investigating the case of 23-year-old Julia Niswender, who was found dead of an apparent homicide inside an apartment in the complex last December.

Glinski said both incidents occurring at the complex in such a short time space is "concerning."

"I'm more aware of my surrounding," he said when asked if he was taking any precautions.

John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

Comments

csd57

Wed, Apr 3, 2013 : 6:16 p.m.

As a current resident of Peninsular Place, I find it particularly disturbing that the management did not send any sort of an email to its residents notifying them of this incident. I think that residents have a right to know when murders like this occur within their complex.

Solitude

Thu, Apr 4, 2013 : 10:35 p.m.

Now it's a murder? Do you know something the prosecutor does not?

Laurie Barrett

Wed, Apr 3, 2013 : 12:42 p.m.

Ypsi is a rough place. Other cities with lots of violence have turned themselves around. Why not Ypsi? It would be a great place.

keeping it real

Wed, Apr 3, 2013 : 4:51 a.m.

a man died for crying out loud forget who pays rent or whos the baby s daddy. Is that as deep as u can go. 1+1=2 what is goin on in that thing that sits on yr shoulders .

BhavanaJagat

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:40 p.m.

The problem of Peace and Harmony: This unfortunate story also involves a 2-month old baby. Apparently, the parents are arrested and the condition of this baby is not mentioned. I am not surprised to read about a dispute among tenants and the owner has to explain as to what is the policy about keeping peace and harmony within the rental community.

tiredofmess

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 2:11 p.m.

I have heard that the police had just left the apartment right before the killing occured and left the situation unresolved. So what good is it to call the police if this is true.

tiredofmess

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:45 p.m.

From the person that called and saw the police before the killing !!

Arboriginal

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:03 p.m.

I have heard the endtimes are near.

genetracy

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 2:51 p.m.

So you "heard"? Who is your source?

local

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 11:57 a.m.

Regardless, a man was killed trying to help out his daughter who asked for help. I hope the two suspects, when found guilty, spend a long time in jail for the crime.

genetracy

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:56 a.m.

I wonder if the baby's daddy was also paying rent or if he was just relying on the baby's mama for money

Peter

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 8:56 p.m.

You know what, upon reading this again, I misread and misinterpreted your comment. I'd bet you're on the right track with this.

genetracy

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:20 p.m.

Maybe that is what precipitated the arument and led to the death.

ramrod

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:12 p.m.

Someone is dead and THAT is your concern?

genetracy

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 2:49 p.m.

Not an assumption, just a question. I wondered if that was part of a dispute. Who hasn't had a roommate move a girlfriend or boyfriend in and expect them not have to pay additonal or their fare share of rent?

Peter

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 1:35 p.m.

Why would make these assumptions?

Ypsi Eastsider

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:43 a.m.

One more reason why renting and leasing by the room are a bad idea. The City of Ypsilanti gave the Peninsular Place apartments a special exemption from the city ordinance prohibiting leases by the room. No other apartment owner in the city can rent by the room. Worse, Peninsular management can put anyone in a tenants vacant bedroom and the other tenants in the same apartment have no say. Combine that with poor screening of tenants, no criminal checks of tenants and often times renting to non-students you never know who you will end up with a roommate. Then check the court docket, Penn Place usually has the most evictions and court proceedings every single month. With the veritable revolving door of evictions and slam another tenant in to fill a room and no one should be surprised by these tragedies.

Ralph

Wed, Apr 3, 2013 : 8:37 p.m.

Three deaths! When was the third?

tiredofmess

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 7:14 p.m.

I have not read anywhere that these two individuals did not want to live together or that they were strangers. I did read that it was a disagreement which could happen anywhere that two or more people live together. I think we need to hear more facts I argued with my roomate all the time and he was my brother I'm just saying.

YpsiGirl4Ever

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 2:51 p.m.

Sounds as if the residents and home owners in Ypsilanti City need to take the Peninsular Place problem to Ypsilanti City Council and demand change immediately. Three deaths since December 2012 in the SAME LOCATION should be enough.

KateT

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 2:22 a.m.

Our courts regularly deal with landlord/tenant disputes. The system is not perfect, but it is sure better than frying pans and guns.

Tru2Blu76

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 12:45 a.m.

I have to say, reader statements assuming that the victim was somehow exercising superior judgement by having his daughter take his gun outside are exactly the opposite of what experts say should be done. It's apparent that many readers take a fundamentally negative view of humans. Specifically, that people who carry guns are not capable of determining when an argument justifies the use of deadly force. There is only ONE such circumstance and that's when another person (or persons) present a clear danger to one's life or a danger of injury which would result in death. It's a mind set, it's the law, and most police and ex-combat soldiers know this. It should also be glaringly obvious that the minute the daughter was gone, this man's life was under deadly threat. I would bet a LOT of money that the deceased, if instead he had survived, would say that giving up his gun was a huge mistake. And so would anyone who's familiar with such situations. Furthermore, situations like this one are often ended when the defender makes clear what will happen if an attack is attempted. The two suspects in this case would most likely not have pressed their attack, since they were not armed and had no chance of escaping unharmed if the armed defender took charge of the situation. The obvious upside is that they would not now be facing charges which will affect the rest of their lives. As both an observer and participant, I've seen armed individuals stop "arguments leading to violence" dead in their tracks. It's not that there aren't people lacking in self control, its that responsible people who're armed can "restore" self control to those people lacking it if they become a threat. My sincere condolences to this man's daughter and his family. I for one never want to see another story like this one.

Dirty Mouth

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:11 p.m.

Second paragraph: "Police confirmed confirmed Monday afternoon that the victim was John Lawrence." Don't need confirmed twice. Hmm, if I were a parent now we be a good time to move my kid out. Just saying.

Patrick McNamara

Tue, Apr 9, 2013 : 11:38 p.m.

Try and move out. My wife moved into the apartment directly above the one where the murder took place. We've had non stop problems and the apartment complex won't let us leave. Peninsular Place has allowed this complex to turn into a Beirut type environment, non-stop fights, screaming and hollering into all times of the day and night, security guards having to be posted, the smell of pot is overwhelming.. and they wonder why they have so many empty apartments and why so many current lessee's want out. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

snapshot

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:08 p.m.

Parents and their kids should make certain any roomate situation has terms and conditions agreed upon and documented prior to commitments. The need to argue is greatly reduced.

tinkerbell

Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 12:26 a.m.

Who owns this place anyhow?

YpsiGirl4Ever

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 2:48 p.m.

What? "The Lease is what it is?" How about YOU move in with two or three other individuals you don't know by FORCE to attend college and see how YOU feel about that. Condolences to Raven and her family for the untimely lost of her Dad. This is a sad situation. For the apartment complex....if I had a college bound daughter or son, this place would not be on my list for suitable living facilities.

Solitude

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:22 p.m.

The reality here is that there is NEVER a reason to argue. The lease is what it is; if there is a disagreement about the terms, people always have choices that do not involve getting into shouting matches. That's what property managers/landlords and civil courts are for. In any verbal situation, there's always the choice to simply walk away. People have to start taking responsibility for their decisions not to just walk away and pursue a different resolution.

Cassie

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 10:14 p.m.

This is the THIRD suspicious death at this apartment complex since December 2012. The second death was exactly 1 month after Julia Niswender. I am seriously going to look into getting my daughter out of there! She is also an EMU student and living away from home for the first time. This seems like a dangerous place to send your kids. I don't recommend it.

John Counts

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 1:09 p.m.

The incident you're referring to was a woman dying from a possible drug overdose: http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/police-investigating-death-of-woman-found-dead-of-possible-overdose-in-ypsilanti/ Police don't generally release information about incidents like overdoses, and only did so because they wanted to make it clear that the possible overdose death wasn't related to the Niswender case. "That's why we released it. We want to make it clear that there's no relationship between the two," Ypsilanti police Lt. Deric Gress said at the time.

keeping it real

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 6 a.m.

sweetness this was not suspicious okay this was obvious

seldon

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 1:27 a.m.

If they're really putting random roommates together, I'd get her out. Wow.

Tru2Blu76

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 1:02 a.m.

My daughter went to college too. I feel exactly the same. In fact, I made it a point to visit my daughter and meet roommates, housemates, etc. every time she changed residences. I should say: these times were never "inspections" in a literal sense, I just made use of opportunities which allowed me to be with her and among them. I know it's not possible for all parents to do this, but I highly recommend it.

Becky

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 10:09 p.m.

Thoughts to the family

Greg

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 10:06 p.m.

Guy got killed for tying to avoid problem getting out of control by keeping his gun remote. Paid for being a nice guy with his life. Sad.

UpperDecker

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:37 p.m.

Well solitude if he has a gun permit (which he did) then it would only make sense that he carries his weapon on him almost always as do most with a license. His daughter calls him stressed about a situation and he responds by getting in the car on a Sunday night to go pick her up and get her out of the apartment yet you choose to criticize him and suggest his best course of action would be to stay home and call the police. Generally if a gun holder is going to be an aggressor you can probably assume they wouldn't get rid of the gun before hand, that is a logic fail if ever.

Solitude

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:15 p.m.

Boy, you sure have jumped to some unsupportable conclusions. "Paid for being a nice guy..."? What do you base that on? This is the same guy who chose to bring a gun to a lease dispute in the first place....someone who reportedly chose to drive more than 30 miles and involve himself in a verbal lease dispute when all he had to do was call the police. It's impossible to tell from the article who the aggressor was here, and the only person heard from so far is the dead person's daughter, who by her own statement was not even in the apartment when whatever happened happened. Don't the statements of the other two involved parties even matter?

Alex Nickodemus

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 9:44 p.m.

I lived at Peninsular Place for less than a semester, several years ago, and I can say that they need to either close that place, or completely rethink their leasing system. Apartments are leased by room, not by apartment, so if you sign up to rent a 3 bedroom apartment, you get put in with 2 complete strangers, and must share the living space, and simply tolerate any guests they choose to have over, or any illegal activity that they do within the apartment. Any disputes between roommates are basically ignored by the management, who takes the attitude that if you don't like the people you're with, you can get on the wait list to move in with a different group of strangers.

Patrick McNamara

Tue, Apr 9, 2013 : 11:36 p.m.

Peninsular Place has allowed this complex to turn into a Beirut type environment, non-stop fights, screaming and hollering into all times of the day and night, security guards having to be posted, the smell of pot is overwhelming.. and they wonder why they have so many empty apartments and why so many current lessee's want out. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

ccsummer

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 2:15 p.m.

If this is still the rental policy at Peninsular Place, it's certainly irresponsible and slightly dark ages--I started college a long time ago! Really, it reminds me of dorms in the late '60--you just got the roommates you got and had to wait at least one semester before requesting a change. And even then you had to find your own way to make a change, hoping an incompatible roommate would move out and a friend could move in, or a space would open up in a friend's room so you could move. But I have to ask why people don't find their own roommates. I lived in many apartments while I was a student and I always lived with friends. Even dorms these days try to match new students with roommates or suitemates according to each student's stated interests and preferences. This is an horrific tragedy and it's particularly shameful that Raven didn't feel she had any recourse other than to call her Dad. The management should have stepped in once the lease was violated when her roommate's boyfriend moved in. Hopefully the city's housing authority or whatever entity has jurisdiction over apartment communities, will step in and take a hard look at this apartment building and the management.

halflight

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:36 a.m.

That's nuts. I would NEVER lease a room with a total stranger. Does Peninsular Place actually place you with other people? Or do they just give you a phone number and tell you to work out the details? I can see a lawsuit coming if they are screening tenants and then placing them others. If they do, they're assuming some responsibility that your landlord-chosen roommate isn't a psycho. Do they at least put in a solid bedroom door with a lock? Anyhow, with 2 violent deaths in less than a year, who's gonna sign a lease there? I sure wouldn't.

ADF

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 2:50 a.m.

I live in Pen. Place right now. Things do need to change. No one is going to want to live there with all of these problems.

Tru2Blu76

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 1:49 a.m.

As for leasing bedrooms, it's exactly the same practice here around U of M. And the crazies DO ABOUND in such "houses." I spent one summer in the Nineties while waiting for my own apartment in such a multi-lease house (on East U.). What a zoo, there were not only U of M students (one who was clearly mentally ill), there were hangers-on, young men who were just in Ann Arbor because they'd heard talk about the wild times. Thefts, assaults, drunken parties, brawls, windows breaking at all hours, police arriving - you name it.

Brad

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:35 p.m.

Seriously? That's simply crazy. Retail dormitories??

oyxclean

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:28 p.m.

They keep building highrises of the same nature as fast as they can in A2. I'm guessing they will have lots of problems, too.

porchbear

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:29 p.m.

My heart goes out to Raven, how awful :(

jns131

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:28 p.m.

Lets see, dad comes running with a gun, she takes it outside and then she comes back inside and bangs on door. At what point did the the gun get locked up somewhere? Wow, what a nightmare.

Ponycar

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:57 p.m.

I was assuming that she locked it in her dad's car, but that's not explicitly stated anywhere.

Steve McKeen

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:27 p.m.

The late, great William S. Burroughs once said, "No one owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death."

John of Saline

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:25 a.m.

Interesting observation. Was that before or after his drunken game of William Tell where he killed a woman?

Tru2Blu76

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 1:51 a.m.

Very astute observation. I agree with Jaime: bonus points! :-)

Jaime Magiera

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.

bonus points for quoting Burroughs.

halflight

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:25 p.m.

Whoa. People are making lots of assumptions here. The police haven't given any information out as to what happened in the apartment, other than the victim had head wounds. I'd imagine there's more to the story if the police arrested the other people involved but they haven't been charged with murder, let alone convicted. Proof proceeds guilt.

halflight

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:25 a.m.

djacks24: I'm not saying the other two weren't involved. I'm saying that, with the current public information we have, all we know is that the victim died of blunt force trauma. We don't know what the other people said to the victim, to his daughter or to the police, and that information won't be available until or if the prosecutor files a criminal complaint. Neither do we want it publicly available, if it will interfere with the investigation and /or prosecution. Other possiblities? The obvious one is self-defense, with the blunt force trauma inflicted to defend by one of the other parties. We won't know if that's credible until the post-mortem examination is released, and what it shows about the number and pattern of injuries. We just know very little, other than there was a heated argument, a man was hit, and now he's dead, leaving a young daughter.

oyxclean

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.

Yes, tdw, we should be doing things the Ypsi way...with a frying pan.

tdw

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 9:39 p.m.

halflight...it's the Ann Arbor way.They know everything about everything.Constantly complain about A2.com but use what little they provide to pass judgements

Solitude

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 9:22 p.m.

Djacks, there is not enough info in the article to draw any conclusions at all. The two arrested haven't been charged so far, according to the article, and for all anybody knows, they might never be charged. One 46 yr. old guy against two 20-yr-olds? Maybe the dead guy locked the door...maybe he was attacked by the other two, but maybe he attacked them....there are lots of ways this could play out.

djacks24

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 9:07 p.m.

So if the other two suspects weren't involved, then what?

pseudo

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:25 p.m.

so does the management for this complex have any kid of handle on who is there? who is living there? who is allowed to be there? there just seems to too many bodies. Who are they really renting to?

justcurious

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:18 p.m.

I don't see why we would think that the complex has anything to do with these two tragedies. This kind of thing can happen anywhere. Especially now-a-days.

MathGeek

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 9:55 p.m.

Do you pay your rent? Okay, you're good to go. People miscataorize it as 'student housing'. In this case, yes, students were involved, but there are also non students that live there.

Honest Abe

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:05 p.m.

Geesh! Thoughts for the family! I could not imagine having my loved killed, let alone by a FRYING PAN!!

ez12c

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:05 p.m.

As disturbing as this is to read, thank you John Counts for following up.

John Counts

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 12:23 p.m.

You're quite welcome, ez12c. Thanks for reading.

obviouscomment

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 7:21 p.m.

What a horrible experience for the victim's daughter. It's so sad that people cannot seem to settle disputes like this peacefully anymore. This young woman is very fortunate to have such loving parents who came to try to help her. It is so sad that her father was killed when trying to be there for her. It's possible that if he hadn't have come, she could have been the victim.

Ricebrnr

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:29 a.m.

Except the daughter...

Solitude

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:32 p.m.

It's also just as possible that if he hadn't come, nobody would be a victim.

justcurious

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 11:17 p.m.

I agree with all you have said. I feel terrible for this young woman and for the rest of her family.

Arboriginal

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 7:17 p.m.

Trouble? Call the cops! EVERY SINGLE TIME!

Hugh Giariola

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:36 a.m.

And what do you do in the meantime?

halflight

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:20 p.m.

Davidian: No, if there is an argument over a non-tenant's presence is an apartment, the cops will ask him to leave. That was the issue.

Brad

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:16 p.m.

If you were a lessee and could produce the lease you could have had the boyfriend removed for trespassing. Case closed.

OLDTIMER3

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:09 p.m.

@djacks24 if the police respond like they did the last time I had to call them ,they would probably still be waiting. Or told they couldn't get involved.

Davidian

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:03 p.m.

Call the cops? They would tell you that an argument over a lease is a civil dispute and they can't get involved.

djacks24

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 7:35 p.m.

Exactly. Not like time was much of an issue since there was time for dad to drive from Detroit. Cops would have still been there sooner with with their sidearms on them, and probably more than one officer.

Jack Gladney

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 6:52 p.m.

I am sorry a man is dead, but I have a feeling that the cops are going to be questioning again what exactly was going on with that gun. Something sounds askew there. Why would victim bring a gun into a heated situation and then tell his daughter to take it outside?

Jack Gladney

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 1:43 p.m.

Speculation. Speculation. OK. So I'll give you this tip and then add my own. Never introduce a gun in heated situation unless you are prepared to use it; you'll likely end up wounded, dead or in jail. When I read this story, I was reminded of an instance in Atlanta years ago. Two tenants fighting over a reserved parking space at a complex. A verbal argument escalated when Tenant X brandishes a gun. Tenant Y backed down and walked away. Tenant X put his gun away and goes to leave. Tenant X is then beaten to death by Tenant Y with a baseball bat. Now. Add a girlfriend and a baby to the situation... Take it from there CSI Ann Arbor.

music to my ear

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 12:35 p.m.

everything points to he was trying to be a responsible gun owner, perhaps he did not feel threathen at first, like maybe he could handle it verbally. sounds like this couple were a little stressed out, new baby and all ,who knows if it were not the deceased, it could have been his daughter killed. what ever the reason,it was not worth taking a life and ruining more , just so sad.

Tru2Blu76

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 2:06 a.m.

It's all speculative but there are cases where someone thinking "just having my gun" will settle everything turns out to be a very bad idea. He may have let it show and that may have made the roommate and her boyfriend nervous. After he had his daughter take it outside, they may have then realized they had the upper hand and attacked him. I only say that because I'm like Ricebrnr: completely willing to keep my gun out of sight and out of arguments until / unless it becomes essential for defending myself. On the other hand, I've known people who carry guns "for show" and it's the stupidest strategy I can think of. Speaking only for myself: if my daughter asked for my help in such a situation, she would know I would arrive armed. As an NRA firearms instructor, she would not allow me to disarm myself and would probably be armed herself. I think I've just realized how amazingly lucky I am. :-)

Jack Gladney

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:56 p.m.

@Ricebrnr Actually there are more assumptions in the replies (including yours) to my comment than there are in mine, which asks a legitimate question which in turn should lead to even more questions.

Brad

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:31 p.m.

Coming from Detroit ... and going to Ypsi.

OLDTIMER3

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:06 p.m.

Maybe he thought it was settled.Sounds like maybe he should have kept it on him.

Ricebrnr

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 7:25 p.m.

lot of assumptions in your comment. He was coming from Detroit, couldn't he have wanted his weapon on him simply for that? I know when I go to Detroit I don't do it without mine!

tdw

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 6:45 p.m.

I think there may be more to the story.I'll wait for all the facts before I pass judgement on this one

easy123

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 10:44 p.m.

One man is dead, and more than three people's lives have been permantly changed, and you wish to be an "objective" observer. Was this really worth it for the money?

tdw

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 9:36 p.m.

DBH...and well you should

ThaKillaBee

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 8:26 p.m.

I think this is true for every single story ever reported.

DBH

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 7:32 p.m.

I am waiting with bated breath for your judgment, @tdw.

seldon

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 6:41 p.m.

Permit holders have to be very careful about having their weapons on them if they're going to be in a confrontation. It sounds like he was very conscientous. Sad.

kuriooo

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 9:21 p.m.

This sounds logical and conscientous to me, to eliminate the gun from a heated and disputable situation. Perhaps the victim thought he didn't want things to get out of hand and the weapon to be misused. I'm so sorry for the victim's family, and also for the child involved. There aren't any winners here.

John Counts

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 6:38 p.m.

The Lawrence family told me he had a permit for the gun.

Cassie

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 10:17 p.m.

3rd death since December.

djacks24

Mon, Apr 1, 2013 : 6:36 p.m.

""My dad came. He had his gun on him and he told me to take it outside," Raven Lawrence said. " I wonder why he would have her take the gun outside unless he didn't have a carrying permit? Not saying him having his gun on him would've been the best coarse of action, but chances are maybe he would still be alive. In my opinion the cops should have been called first. They would have tried to help in resolving the dispute and would've immediately made the male suspect leave since he wasn't on the lease.

RLaw

Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 5:21 a.m.

Have you thought about it this way? Maybe he saw there wasn't a need to have the gun in the house so he wanted it out of the situation. He was being smart to take it out of the situation when felt he didn't need it there!

UpperDecker

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:30 p.m.

Not sure, my first thought was he was really upset and didn't want to shoot her roommate.

ramrod

Tue, Apr 2, 2013 : 3:02 p.m.

Like to make up your own scenario, huh? Maybe you should be a Hollywood writer. Oh and it's course not a grade of sandpaper.