Detroit man found guilty in fatal shooting over drug debt
Jury deliberated 90 minutes before rendering decision
A suspected killer has been found guilty of murdering a man who was shot eight times and left to die in the basement of an Eastpointe home.
Danny Darnell White, 33, of Detroit was found guilty Friday of first-degree premeditated murder of Titus Houston following a sevenday jury trial, according to the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before rendering their decision.
“Our office has been charging gun crimes all day every day,” Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in a statement thanking the Eastpointe Police Department for investigating the crime.
According to police and prosecutors, White went to the victim’s home in the 24000 block of Ridgecroft Avenue, in the area of Stephens and Kelly roads, on Sept. 28, 2021, to settle a drug debt. He was armed with a 9mm handgun, which he used to shoot Houston.
Houston’s body was found the following afternoon in the basement by his ex-girlfriend. She had talked with him over the telephone the night before.
White was also convicted of two counts of felony firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The murder charge is punishable by life in prison.
Eastpointe police said White has a few drug-charge convictions, including one in West Virginia for distribution.
He formerly worked at Ford Motor Company for about one year, according to a court-appointed arraignment attorney.
White was being held on $1 million bond, which Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Matthew P. Sabaugh revoked after the verdict was announced. White will continue to be held in the Macomb County Jail.
Sentencing was set for 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 6.