Man convicted of murder in shooting outside bar
Whitfield also guilty on four counts of attemptedmurder
A Macomb County judge convicted a Detroit man of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder for shooting into a crowd outside an Eastpointe bar at closing time.
Lenny Whitfield, 48, was also found guilty of several weapons charges Wednesday by JudgeMichael Servitto of Macomb Circuit Court f o l lowing a two- day bench trial that ended Tuesday for the incident, which occurred about one year ago.
Whitfield killed Jared Glenn, 34, of Roseville, and wounded five others among 15 to 20 people gathered outside the front door of the Last Call Bar & Grill at about 2 a.m. Oct. 12, 2019, on 10Mile Road near Hayes Road. One of the victims did not testify so Whitfield was not chargedwith attempted murder for that victim.
Whitfield fired six shots into the crowd in apparent retaliation for being kicked out of the bar twice and punched and possibly kicked by one or two bar bouncers.
Servitto said Whitfield could have left the area after arriving at hisparkedvehicle at 1:54 a.m. but instead spent five minutes getting the vehicle’s hood opened and retrieving a handgun from the engine compartment. Whitfield walked toward the bar and fired the shots “froma perfect angle” in a calculated manner, he said.
“The defendant has no reason, zero reason to return to the bar,” he said. “The only reason to stick around was to get payback, whether it was payback for being assaulted or just for the sake of inflicting terror on the universe due to a combination of the assault, that his advances were rebuffed by the woman he found attractive, getting kicked out repeatedly at the bar or feeling like an outsider after not having been in the bar in 20 years.
“Whatever his grievance might have been, he was going to address itwith unmitigated violence.
“The sheer volume of gunfire that the defendant had inflicted convinces (the judge) that he had the intent to kill in that moment. He didn’t fire once, twice, three times, four times or five. He fired at least six times.”
One victimsufferedthree bulletwounds, meaning two bullets likely struck two people each.
Glenn was struck in the eye anddiedthreedays later at Ascension St. John Hospital andMedical Center in Detroit.
In a verdict delivered from the bench and shown on courtroom video, the judge said Whitfield may have been intending to kill one of the bouncers but due to “transferred intent,” is guilty of the first-degree and attempted murder counts.
Servitto noted Whitfield keptfiring until the gunran out of bullets.
“The only thing that prevented the defendant from inflicting even greater carnage in a hail of gunfire was running out of ammunition,” he said.
Whitfield faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole for the first-degree murder conviction and up to life for the attempted-murder convictions when he is sentenced Dec. 3. He took the stand in his defense, admitting he was highly intoxicated after drinking beer earlier in thenight at a party andbeer and liquor shots at the Last Call.
W hitfield stated he was kicked out of the bar only once for letting a beer bottle slide off the bar and was “sucker punched” by a bouncer, although evidence indicated he was kicked out a second time after returning and threatening a bouncer and trying to “touch” a female bar patron.
He testified that after the punch, he woke up outside with injuries to his face, head and hip, and was “afraid” the bouncers would beat him again.
But Servitto reiterated Whitfield had no reason to stay. His male friend who accompaniedhimto the bar had returned to Whitfield’s vehicle, an Infinity pickup truck, at 1:56 a.m., surveillance video showed.
Servitto noted Whitfield admitted he considered his actions in the moments prior to firing the shots.
Whitfield testified Tuesday that as he walked toward the bar with the gun in his hand, a voice — “not my voice” — in his left ear told him, “If you do this, you’re going to jail.”
“I heardmy voice screaming at the top ofmy lungs in my right ear, ‘I don’t give a f---.’ I raised the gun above my head and fired the gun. All I saw was smoke and fire. I didn’t see a crowd of people standing in front of the bar. I didn’t see anything. When I pulled the gun, I heard a voice saying ‘leave.’”
Whitfield was arrested between 10 and 11 p.m. at his home on Farmbrooke, near Mack and East Warren avenues in Detroit, after Eastpointe police traced his vehicle to him.
Meanwhi le, Glenn’s mother testified Tuesday her son was “very special.”
Following his death, there was an outpouring of support online and a candlelight memorial was held in St. Clair Shores.
Glenn was diagnosed with Williams Syndrome, a genetic condition characterized by problems including cardiovascular disease, developmental delays and learning challenges. Those who have Williams Syndrome often have strong verbal abilities, highly social personalities and love for music, according to theWilliams Syndrome Association.
“He had an incredibly warm personality,” his mother, Sarah, said. “His smile just took over. He would embrace a room whenever he met people.”
On the day of the shooting, Glenn and his mother spent the day at C.J. Barrymore’s and had dinner, she recalled. They plannedto go to a car show the next day.
“Jared loved cars, and there was a car show nearby,” she said.
She said he liked dancing and singing. He is survived by four siblings.
Glenn worked at an Outback Steakhouse restaurant and formerly was employed at a Kroger grocery store.
The Last Call shooting was one of two bar shootings in south Macomb County in October 2019. Nolan Baca, 22, of Clinton Township, is charged with second-degree murder and other criminal offenses for the Oct. 20, 2019, shooting death of John Lee Owczarski inside of the bathroom at Dooleys Irish Tavern in Roseville.
A jury trial in that case is scheduled for Jan. 29, with a Nov. 2 pretrial, in front of circuit Judge James Maceroni.