Testimony opens in Adrian murder hearing

ADRIAN — Six witnesses testified during a hearing Monday in Lenawee County District Court regarding the two men who are charged with murder in the shooting death of a Detroit man in February in Adrian.

Witnesses took the stand Monday during the preliminary examination describing for attorneys and District Judge Laura J. Schaedler what they might have known or witnessed on Feb. 13, 2023, when 27-year-old Jonathan Marquise Simmons of Detroit was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire between the occupants of two vehicles near the intersection of Frank and South Tecumseh streets on Adrian’s east side.

Simmons was taken by a private vehicle to ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital in Adrian Township where he later died from his wounds.

Kenyatto Tiwaine Sylvertooth, 47, of Detroit and Gage Michael Winsett, 18, of Adrian are each charged in Simmons' death. They were arrested following an "extensive" investigation, the Adrian Police Department previously reported.

Both men are charged with open murder, discharge of a firearm from a vehicle causing death and felony firearm. The open murder charge allows a jury to decide the degree of murder, should the case go to trial. If convicted of first-degree murder, they would be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

More: 2 men charged in February shooting death in Adrian

Attorney Jim Daly of Adrian represents Winsett, and Dawn Van Dusen, Lenawee County deputy public defender, represents Sylvertooth.

At a preliminary exam, the prosecution has to show a crime was committed and there is probable cause to believe the defendants charged committed the crime. Schaedler will decide whether to bind the case over to Lenawee County Circuit Court for further proceedings.

Robert Allen, a Frank Street resident, was the first witness called to the stand by Lenawee County Prosecutor Jackie Wyse Monday. Allen said around 4 p.m. Feb. 13 he noticed what he called a suspicious vehicle parked at the corner of Frank and Center streets.

The rear windows of the smaller-sized, black, sport utility vehicle were tinted, he said, and it was difficult to make out some of the details of the vehicle’s occupants, but he noticed the driver was wearing a ski mask and kept looking left and right down Tecumseh Street. Another occupant of the vehicle sat in the front passenger seat, he said.

Moments later, he said, he heard five gunshots and saw a van come into the area of the neighborhood with glass shattered out of its rear window. He didn’t see the shots being fired but he heard them, he said. One of the bullets pierced the front left tire of one of his vehicles sitting along the roadway.

More: One dead in shooting Monday in Adrian

Another witness was a minor currently lodged at the Maurice Spear Campus juvenile detention center. The minor said he is familiar with Winsett and described their relationship as being “friendly.”

Samantha Barrett, the third witness of the day, is currently lodged in the Lenawee County Jail for a probation violation, possession of methamphetamine, retail fraud and embezzlement. During her testimony, she said she knows both Sylvertooth and Winsett having lived with Mark Sylvertooth, a relative of Kenyatto, at his residence in Adrian.

She described Winsett as almost being a son to Mark Sylvertooth.

Barrett could not remember accurately on Monday a lot of the details she provided to Adrian Police Detective Kevin Putnam when she was first interviewed by him March 23, 2023, about the shooting due to what she called “being really high” on heroin and crack when she spoke with him.

Several times during questioning Monday she responded by saying she couldn’t remember.

Because of her inability to accurately recall statements she originally made to the police, a court-appointed attorney was assigned to Barrett for the remainder of her time as a witness.

William Sweat, who has worked for the past three years with boys detention at Maurice Spear, was the fourth witness. He said in the time he has known Winsett through the juvenile detention center discussions and conversations never revealed anything about him being part of a shooting or the killing of a man. In his time at Maurice Spear, Sweat said he has probably spoken with Winsett at least 100 times.

Putnam took the stand later in the afternoon and detailed what he learned from the scene of the crime through investigative work. Images of both vehicles — the SUV registered in the name of Kenyatto Sylvertooth and the van that had its rear windows shot out — were displayed in the courtroom. Both vehicles have been taken into evidence by police. One vehicle was found in Adrian Township, and the other was found in Detroit.

Video footage of the February gunfire was picked up on security cameras that were recording outside of The Daily Bread of Lenawee, 302 S. Tecumseh St. Surveillance footage that was shown in the courtroom had a timestamp of 4:18 p.m. Feb. 13. The security camera was also able to pick up the license plate number on the SUV, which assisted law enforcement in locating Sylvertooth’s vehicle in Detroit.

Putnam said the center console of the SUV contained a black ski mask and a spent .40-caliber bullet casing that was recovered from the back seat of the vehicle. There was no exterior or interior damage done to the SUV.

During cross examination of Putnam, Daly said there has been little evidence presented to connect Winsett as being a passenger inside the SUV during the afternoon shooting. The evidence, as seen through the video footage, is circumstantial, Putnam said.

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Another acquaintance of Mark Sylvertooth, Lisa Dillay, was the final witness to take the stand Monday and was unable to complete her testimony by the time court adjourned for the day. Dillay said she has known Winsett and Mark since at least 2017. She said she had known Simmons since 2015.

Prior to the events of Feb. 13, Dillay said Winsett and Simmons had a verbally loud conversation at Mark Sylvertooth’s residence on East Church Street.

“It didn’t get too loud, but it did get to the point of where I thought something was going on,” she said.

Dillay left Adrian for Ann Arbor sometime during the day Feb. 13, but she couldn’t remember the exact time she departed, she said. During her travel that day, she said she received a phone call from Mark telling her to be careful on her way back home because of there being a shooting.

Since February, she said, she has communicated almost equally with Kenyatto and Winsett.

“I consider both of them friends,” she said.

Like the statement made earlier by Barrett, Dillay said Mark Sylvertooth was almost like a father figure to Winsett.

When asked if Kenyatto Sylvertooth ever let other people drive his vehicles, Dillay responded by saying he does not.

Adrian police were assisted in the investigation by Adrian Township police, the Michigan State Police, the Detroit Police Department, the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office, the Michigan Department of Corrections, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The preliminary examination is expected to resume at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 1. If that hearing needs to be postponed, a second hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Nov. 13.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Testimony opens in Adrian murder hearing