Detroit Shooting Spree: Lone survivor reflects on 2022 shooting
Man pleads guilty to 2022 random deadly triple shooting in Detroit
Dontae Smith has pleaded guilty to the shooting spree he committed in August of that year, when he was 19 years old. The shootings took place in the area of Wyoming, near 7 Mile, in the early hours of Aug. 28. One man and his dog were both shot and survived. That survivor, John Palik, tells FOX 2 that his heart breaks for the victims' families. But his heart also breaks for the suspect.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A suspect pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a 2022 shooting spree that happened in Detroit that killed three people.
Dontae Smith has pleaded guilty to the shooting spree he committed in August of that year, when he was 19 years old. The shootings took place in the area of Wyoming, near 7 Mile, in the early hours of Aug. 28.
One man and his dog were both shot and survived. That survivor, John Palik, tells FOX 2 that his heart breaks for the victims' families. But his heart also breaks for the suspect.
Two years after the shooting, Palik and his dog Kingston are happy and healthy. In 2022, the red-nose pitbull was shot by Smith.
"I think it’s good. Because the thing is if he would’ve been pronounced guilty, you can get parole and not get treatment," said Palik. "He needs treatment."
Palik was 76 at the time of the shooting and says it was a regular August morning when he and Kingston went for a walk on 7 Mile and Pennington when he saw a suspicious man walking around.
He shook it off and kept walking.
"Then all of a sudden two shots came out, and he got the first shot in his leg and I turned around, and that’s why I say he saved my life, because then I got shot right in the thigh," he said.
Palik says a neighbor who saw what happened fired shots at the suspect, then another came to help him and Kingston.
"Obviously he knew something. He says it went all the way through. So he needed a tourniquet. So he went back into his house, and he got a belt and put a tourniquet on," Palik said.
He later says both he and Kingston were rushed to the hospital and was told no arteries were hit.
"I’m very pleased that his family stepped up when they saw and turned him in," he said.
Palik says what he'll remember most was the kindness his neighbor showed him that day.
Palik says he's scheduled to return to court on Feb. 28 when the victims' families are expected to speak.
Smith's sentence agreement is for 28 to 50 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 28.
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Detroit man charged in 3 murders, 5 shootings in 2022, pleads guilty
Dontae Smith has pleaded guilty in the 2022 shooting spree he committed in August of that year, when he was 19 years old.
Smith's shooting victims were:
- Chayne Lewis Lee, 28, of Detroit
- Location:19880 block of Wyoming at 4:45 a.m.
"It is alleged that Defendant Smith shot Mr. Lee multiple times, and when he fell to the ground Smith continued to shoot the Mr. Smith. His lifeless body was discovered lying in the doorway of a church by Detroit police officers. It is alleged that the defendant walked away from the scene," the prosecutor's office said.
- Jane Doe
- Location: Wyoming and Margareta at 5:23 a.m.
Detroit police officers responded to a location where a resident heard multiple shots fired and observed a male in dark clothing with a slender build walking east on Margareta Street. The body of a woman was observed with multiple gunshot wounds.
- Lari Brisco, 43, of Detroit
- Location: 19790 block of Livernois at 6:53 a.m.