Murder suspect charged in unprovoked shooting appears in court for preliminary hearing

OXFORD, Mich. (FOX 2) - A 36-year-old man charged with open murder will appear in court for a preliminary hearing after he allegedly shot a man he mistakenly believed had threatened him on Tuesday.

Marcus Nathan is being held without bond in Oakland County jail after he allegedly gunned down Dennis Kendrick outside an apartment in Oxford Township in April.

According to police, Nathan had told authorities he had received a threatening text and went to find out who sent it. When he came upon Kendrick, a 54-year-old single father who stayed at the Abbey Ridge Apartment Homes. 

While both men lived at the complex, neither knew each other before the unprovoked shooting. 

Nathan was charged with murder and felony firearm on April 22. 

During the hearing, police described the scene when they arrived at the apartment after the shooting. One officer said Nathan yelled to him to tell him where to find shell casings.

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"This was a pre-determined, pre-meditated act by this individual to go out in the parking lot and look for someone he thought may have threatened him, and came across a person who had nothing to do with it and yet still escalated it into a deadly encounter," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard at the time.

Kendrick left behind a 15-year-old son.