Accused Detroit Cop Killer Gives Thumbs Up, Laughs In Court Before Being Bound Over For Trial
DETROIT (WWJ) - A 21-year-old Detroit man has been bound over for trial for first degree murder in the shooting death of a Detroit Police officer.
Defendant Marquise Cromer gave a thumbs up and laughed during a preliminary hearing Tuesday as a cop who witnessed the crime testified that Cromer was "screaming like a girl" as he was taken into custody.
The shooting happened on Sept. 12. 2016, as police say Officer Kenneth Stihl was chasing Cromer — a carjacking suspect— on foot outside a gas station on 7 Mile Rd. on the city's east side.
According to prosecutors, Cromer fired at Steil, a 17-year veteran of the force, with a sawed off shotgun, striking him in the shoulder.
Police Chief James Craig said Steil was expected to survive and was talking about returning to the force when
he died suddenly from complications, shortly before he was supposed to be released from the hospital five days after the shooting.
Cromer is also charged with assault, accused of shooting his father as he was eating dinner — the day before the shooting — and then carjacking and shooting a man at a Detroit car wash.
Tuesday's courtroom antics were not his first. Authorities said Cromer was so uncooperative and combative with officers ahead of a probable cause hearing last September that the court appearance had to be rescheduled. Judge Deborah Langston said at the time that Cromer was "having some behavioral problems."
Defense attorneys say Cromer suffers from depression and was not taking his medication at the time of the crimes.
