Disturbing Testimony As 2 Face Hearing In Murder, Dismemberment Of Macomb Township Teen

MACOMB (WWJ) - Some unsettling testimony was delivered at a preliminary hearing for two Macomb County teens accused in the murder and dismemberment of a young man last year.

Andrew Fiacco, 19, is charged with murder, accused of fatally shooting his childhood friend; while his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Yvette MacDonald, is charged as an accessory to murder. Both are charged with mutilation of a body and lying to police.

Stephen McAfee, 19, had been missing for over a year before his scattered remains were found both in Bruce Township and in a shallow grave behind Fiacco's home in Ray Township.

According to police, Fiacco shot McAfee and left his body in a field. About a month or so later he and McDonald — his girlfriend at the time — allegedly returned to the site and cut the body up.

On the witness stand Wednesday, Det. Sgt. Melissa Stevens described discovering the remains last April, in a wooded area near 34 Mile and the Van Dyke expressway, after a friend of MacDonald's tipped off investigators.

"I found, I would say, at least 15 different locations. They were strewn through the area," Stevens said, explaining that she first spotted an article of the victim's clothing.

"And I'm estimating, within ten to 15 feet of the jacket with the green stripe, I located a significantly large bone in my opinion. I don't know which bone specifically it was, but it was enough to draw my attention," she said. "It was lying in the grass.

Stevens admitted some of the remains were found before she had a search warrant.

A motive for the killing is unclear. Fiacco claims he shot McAfee in self-defense, but Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz testified that the gunshot wounds were to McAfee's back and to the back of his head.

"That is not typical of self-defense wounds which typically have two people engaged in a way that they are face to face," Spitz said.

He was asked if the shots could have been sustained after McAfee died.

"Put me in a vacuum where I have limited information, which is the skull and nothing else. Simply looking at the bones I can't make that determination," Spitz said. "In the context of this death investigation, my determination is that this victim died of gunshot wounds to the head."

McAfee, who lived with his parents in Macomb Township, left home early in the morning of March 10, 2016, never to return. Michigan State Police said the young man was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.

MacDonald was bound over for trial at the close of Wednesday's proceedings. A hearing for Fiacco will continue on Thursday.