Second man connected to 2020 murder at Waterford motel makes plea deal

A homicide trial that had been scheduled to start this month in Oakland County Circuit Court won’t proceed due to the defendant taking a plea deal recently just as his co-defendant did two years ago.

Michael Johnson, 21, was shot to death at McGuire’s Motel in Waterford on March 18, 2020, and two people were charged in connection with the slaying: Jeffrey Baker and James Dale Williams. Baker, now 23, pleaded no contest in 2021 to second-degree murder and related charges in exchange for dismissal of a first-degree murder charge. He was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison.

Co-defendant James Dale Williams, 24, turned down a plea deal last year that offered a minimum 25-year sentence for second-degree murder and chose to proceed with trial, charged with first-degree murder which carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison. After several delays, trial was scheduled to start June 20. But several weeks ago, Williams changed his mind and, like Baker, pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree murder and related charges: felonious assault and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Last month, Judge Nanci Grant sentenced Williams to 26-60 years for the murder charge, two years for felony firearms and 17 months to 4 years for felonious assault.

Williams and Baker were arrested in Detroit by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Team five days after the shooting.

Williams is at the Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson. Baker is at Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon.