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Taylor Woman Held On $250K Bond In Burlington Co-Worker Killing

TAYLOR (WWJ) - A 49-year-old woman accused in the shooting death of her co-worker at a Downriver department store has been arraigned on a charge of first degree murder.

Sandra Lynette Waller, who appeared via video feed in 23rd District Court Wednesday, was ordered held in the Wayne County Jail on a $250,000 cash/surety bond.

Sandra Lynette Waller
Sandra Waller is seen o na video monitor during her arraignment. (Photo: Stephanie Davis/WWJ)

WWJ's Stephanie Davis reports the Taylor woman showed no emotion as Judge Joseph Slaven explained the charges. A not guilty plea was entered on her behalf.

"Sitting in that courtroom it was very tense; you could cut the tension with a knife. Family members from both sides were in the courtroom under a heavy police presence," Davis said, adding that she could hear the victim's family members weeping at times.

Prosecutors who argued that Waller be held without bond said they will appeal the judge's decision.

Waller allegedly shot 49-year-old Lorraine Maylynn Faison of Allen Park once in the chest after the two argued briefly at the Burlington store in the 22300 block of Eureka Road near Telegraph in Taylor Monday morning.

Lorraine Faison
Lorraine Faison (Photo via Gofundme)

Responding officers found Waller with a gun in her waistband, according to prosecutors, and she was arrested at the scene. Faison was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Details as to what led up to the shooting were not immediately known. Police said they believed the dispute between the suspect and the victim, which unfolded before the store opened for the day, was work-related.

Faison's niece was in tears as she spoke with reporters outside the courthouse.

"For the judge to set a bond for it, it's not fair, it's not fair at all," she said. "She took a mother, she took a grandmother, a friend, a sister, just because of an altercation?"

Waller, who also faces a felony gun charge, was remanded into custody. She will be back in court for a probable cause conference on October 30.

(A Gofundme page has been set up to raise money to help Faison's family.)

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