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Detroit Police: 48 Hours, 5 Murders

It's been a deadly 48 hours in Detroit. From Tuesday to the early morning Wednesday, five people were found dead in in the city.  One man was found beaten to death, and three men and one woman were found fatally shot -- one of which was a result of a supposed Craigslist transaction.

The body of a young man was found in the middle of the street early Wednesday morning on Coyle between Puritan and McNichols.

Police tell WWJ Newsradio 950 the victim appeared to have been beaten to death and left out on the street,  discovered just after 3 a.m.  Wednesday. 

Neighbors said they heard nothing, but were awakened by the flashing lights of police arriving at the scene.

Police are scouring the area for more information surrounding the man's death.

Also, later Wednesday morning, a woman was found fatally shot on Detroit's east side. According to police, a neighbor walking a dog discovered the woman lying on the grass in front of a house on Evanston near I-94.

The woman was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Police said they did not yet know the identity of the woman, who is described as white and in her 40s.  This incident remains under investigation.

Also on Tuesday, around 11:30 a.m., a 34-year old man was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds inside a vacant house on Burt Road.

On Tuesday night, police say a 47-year-old man was fatally shot after the suspect stole his car.

Two  males came to a location near Avon and West Outer Drive to buy a car from the suspect, who they found on the classifieds web site Craigslist.  The suspect got into the vehicle that they drove in and said they had to drive to a different location.

From there, the suspect shot the front passenger in the chest, then pointed the weapon at the rear passenger and told him to get out of the car.  The suspect left with the car and officials found the vehicle hours later at Avon and West Outer Drive with the victim still in it.

Lastly, a 20-year old man died at 3:45 a.m. Wednesday from a gunshot wound to the head in the 11000 block of Mogul Street.  He was found in a vacant house.

Police said that regardless of these incidents, crime stats were still down -- 23-percent for fatal shootings and 17 percent non-fatal shootings compared to last year.

(Copyright WWJ 2010.  All rights Reserved.)

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