Pre-exam next month for 2 charged in connection with fatal shooting over spitting incident
A preliminary examination is scheduled for next month for two Pontiac men charged in connection with the fatal shooting of another Pontiac man, which reportedly stemmed from a spitting incident at the victim’s home.
The exam is set for April 15 for 50th District Judge Ronda Gross to decide whether to advance the cases against Sadarie Deshawn Donalson, 23, and Dewaun Demarco Benion, 22, to Oakland County Circuit Court for possible trial. Gross will be presented with evidence to determine if probable cause exists for the cases to move forward.
Donalson is charged with second-degree murder, resisting/obstructing/assaulting a police officer and weapons-related crimes for the fatal shooting of Cornelius Jones, 33. Benion, Donalson’s alleged accomplice, is charged with solicitation-assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
The shooting happened Feb. 21 at around 9:30 p.m. in an apartment in the 200 block of Carriage Circle Drive in Pontiac. According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, witnesses told deputies that just before he was shot, Jones had asked Donalson and Benion to leave his home be- cause one of them spit into his sink — which Jones said was “disrespectful.” That’s when Donalson allegedly opened fire, hitting Jones multiple times.
Jones died soon after at a local hospital.
Donalson and Benion fled the apartment after the shooting, the sheriff’s office said, but were subsequently arrested.
Donalson is held in the Oakland County Jail, denied bond. Benion’s also in the jail, with bond set at $75,000 cash.