2023 Year in Review: 5 of the most impactful stories in Greater Lansing

The year in Greater Lansing was marked by several tragedies, from a mass shooting at Michigan State University in February to the brutal murder of a Lansing girl over the Fourth of July weekend to a deadly late summer tornado. By September, MSU's football program was in upheaval, with Spartan football coach Mel Tucker soon fired after an embarrassing sexual harassment allegation. Amid the turmoil, developers with nearly 50 years of experience in Lansing unveiled a grand vision for the future of three downtown sites, including one that promises to change the capital city's skyline if it comes to fruition.

Here are our choices for the five most impactful stories in Greater Lansing this year.

Three dead, five injured in mass shooting at MSU

A lone gunman who police said was intent on seeking revenge for those who harmed him attacked Michigan State University on Feb. 13, killing three students and wounding five others at the Union and Berkey Hall before fleeing campus. Police said Anthony McRae, 43, of Lansing searched for or watched YouTube videos about school shootings, documentaries about killers and arson and viewed videos of MSU campus tours in the days before the attack but had no apparent connection to the school. McRae shot himself more than three hours after the shooting when he was approached by police in north Lansing. Alexandria Verner, Arielle Anderson and Brian Fraser were killed. The university said earlier this month it has settled claims from their families, although it did not disclose the terms of the settlement. An attorney for Verner's family said relatives agreed to a $5 million settlement with MSU, a figure an MSU spokesperson did not dispute. In October, the university released a report it commissioned reviewing how its police department responded, as well as responses by medical and psychological care teams and the Board of Trustees. It found that MSU's response was largely appropriate but lacked "command and control" of the massive amount of staff, first responders and others who rushed to the scene. And the involvement of some members of the school's Board of Trustees also further complicated the effort, consultants said. MSU has been working to upgrade its campus video surveillance and building security since the shooting, which exposed a widespread lack of classroom door locks across campus, something the school is working to remedy. The school is planning memorials for the one-year anniversary but has not released details. It has also said a permanent memorial is planned and the process is ongoing.

Tucker fired amid sexual harassment claims

Mel Tucker, who quickly rose to national prominence after replacing football coach Mark Dantonio in 2020, leading MSU to an 11-2 season in 2021 and inking a 10-year, $95 million contract extension, was fired in September amid a sexual harassment scandal. On Sept. 10, USA Today published a story detailing a nearly year-long sexual harassment investigation of Tucker that had not been previously disclosed. Brenda Tracy, a prominent national advocate for abuse survivors and a rape survivor herself, said Tucker made sexual comments and masturbated without consent during a phone call with her. Tucker and Tracy met when he hired her to speak to his team about sexual violence prevention in August 2021. Tucker — who denies any wrongdoing and said he and Tracy had a consensual, intimate relationship — was suspended without pay the same day the story was published. Less than three weeks after USA Today published its story, Tucker was fired by MSU, and the school later determined he violated the university’s sexual harassment policy. The fallout from the scandal doesn’t appear to be over. Both sides appear to be preparing for an ugly legal battle, with Tucker arguing the school’s investigation was biased and that he is still owed about $80 million. The Board of Trustees initiated an investigation into whether Tracy’s name was leaked before USA Today published its report, saying the results would be released in 2024.

Lansing toddler kidnapped, killed

The kidnapping and eventual killing of a young Lansing girl dominated state headlines in July. Rashad Trice is accused of stabbing and assaulting Wynter's mother, with whom he had a previous relationship on July 2 at her Lansing home, kidnapping Wynter and fleeing in a car police said he stole. Trice was arrested July 3 in St. Clair Shores after a chase in which he crashed into a police officer's car. Wynter was not in the car, and her body was found on July 5 near Coleman A. Young International Airport in Detroit after a statewide search. Trice, 27, is charged by the Michigan Attorney General's Office with murder, kidnapping and assault, among other charges, and faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of murder. However, federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids brought charges of their own — kidnapping resulting in death and kidnapping a minor — and that case carried a potential sentence of the death penalty. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s office reviewed a memo from local prosecutors on the merits of the death penalty in the case, but ultimately decided against it.

Tornado, storms devastate Ingham, Livingston counties

An EF-2 tornado that touched down in eastern Ingham and Livingston counties on Aug. 24 was blamed for two deaths and several injuries. The twister that spawned from widespread storms was one of seven the National Weather Service confirmed across Michigan. Vernita Payne, 84, of Lansing was killed when a tree fell on her home in Lansing’s Fabulous Acres neighborhood. Robert Russell, 41, of Hartland, a construction coordinator for Comcast, also was killed in the storm that caused tens of millions in damages to homes, businesses and Interstate 96. Russell died when the truck he was driving was thrown from I-96 in Leroy Township into nearby woods. The storm, police said, also critically injured one person, seriously hurt another and caused several other people to be treated for injuries along the freeway. Numerous farms in and around Webberville and Williamston were hard hit, including Tim Dietz’s farm in Williamston, which has been in the family since 1832. Two other people died in the aftermath of the storm, when a 51-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman succumbed to what police suspected were fumes from a generator running in their Lansing garage during the widespread power outage after the storms.

A game changing vision for downtown

In a move that he said was inspired by residential developments in Indianapolis, Cleveland and Cincinnati, Lansing developer Paul Gentilozzi and partners proposed a $200 million plan that would add more than 450 housing units and reshape portions of downtown Lansing in the years to come. The proposal from New Vision Lansing, led by Paul, John and Tony Gentilozzi, along with Bloomfield Hills-based JFK Investment Company, would add to the roughly 600 residential units that have been built in downtown in the last two years. It also reaffirms the idea that new housing downtown will help revitalize a business district battered by the pandemic, developers said. The goal is to “transform” the Lansing skyline and downtown experience, the developers said. The projects would be partially funded with $40 million allocated in the state budget and about $10 million in proposed local tax breaks. The most visually striking of the three developments would be at 215 S. Grand Ave. The 300,000-square-foot, 308-unit building is planned for a lot between the Grand Tower at 235 S. Grand Ave., where West Washtenaw Street dead-ends into Grand Avenue, and a parking garage to the north. The main portion of the tower would extend 25 floors into the sky on Lansing’s riverfront, and a 1-acre parking deck would extend across Grand Avenue, connecting to the historic Atrium Building at 215 S. Washington Square, meaning residents would be able to cross over Grand Avenue from their apartments to reach downtown without setting foot outside. The proposal also includes converting an office building at 100 S. Washington Square to as many as 75 apartments and building Capitol Tower at Ottawa and Walnut streets, across the street from the Capitol and State Office Complex, into apartments and office space.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: 2023 Year in Review: 5 of the most impactful stories in Lansing