Oxford High School shooter sentence appeal • James White leaving DPD • Bobcat Bonnie's Ypsilanti closes

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is now looking to fill the police chief role after the department's current leader, James White, was selected as the CEO of the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN).

News that White had applied to lead the DWIHN was revealed last month. On Wednesday, the organization announced that it had selected White out of more than 60 applicants. 

"We are very pleased with the choice of Mr. White to continue leading DWIHN, and we feel confident that he is the right person for the critical job of leading this organization as we enter this next phase of growth to help our region’s most vulnerable citizens," said Board Chairperson, Dr. Cynthia Taueg.

DWIHN provides mental health care to people in Detroit and around Wayne County. Outreach efforts include mobile crisis units, a 24-hour help Hotline, and more.

"It’s an extremely important role at a critical time for Detroit and Wayne County. We continue to have a mental health crisis in our community that needs to be addressed at multiple levels," White said when he confirmed he was seeking the role. 

White was named Detroit police chief in August 2021 after then-chief James Craig left the department. During his tenure, he has repeatedly discussed the mental health crises his officers come across daily.

In May 2021, when he was serving as interim chief, White said that mental illness is "a disease that victimizes our community," noting that police "cannot arrest our way through mental illness."

Under his leadership, the department has expanded its critical incident team with the addition of 15 more officers to handle mental health calls to 911 with a trained mental health professional.

Duggan said he plans to appoint an interim police chief by the end of next week.

Oxford High School shooting appeal hearing

A push to appeal the Oxford High School shooter's life without parole sentence goes to court today.

The shooter, who was 15 at the time and is now 18, was sentenced last December to life in prison without parole for the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting after pleading guilty to two dozen charges, including murder and terrorism.

Earlier this year, the State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) announced that it was seeking to withdraw his plea and appeal for a new sentence. The office filed motions to both withdraw the plea and change the sentence in June, per court records. 

SADO said that while looking into the case, it "uncovered new and compelling evidence that does not support a life without parole sentence" in a press release after the motions were filed.

In that release, the office questioned whether the teen actually understood the plea.

"Due process requires that every person who pleads must understand what they are doing, this is even more true when the person pleading is a child," the release said.

SADO also pointed the finger at his parents, alleging that he may have suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome because his mother drank while pregnant with him. According to SADO, this could have stunted his emotional and social maturity as he aged. 

"This type of sentence for a child goes against what we all know about kids — they change," attorneys with SADO wrote. "A life without parole sentence for a child is unconscionable."

Bobcat Bonnie's workers to picket after restaurant closure

Workers from Bobcat Bonnie's in Ypsilanti are taking to the picket line outside the Ferndale location after their restaurant shuttered this week.

Earlier this month, a group of workers delivered a letter demanding changes to leadership. According to workers, they were dealing with a host of issues, from inconsistent scheduling and bounced paychecks to female employees being in uncomfortable positions with management.

Shortly after, the Ypsilanti location suspended operations to address the concerns, management said. However, in a press release shared Wednesday, the company said the Ypsilanti location would not be reopening. According to the company, the move was to shrink its footprint and focus on its other locations.

Two former employees who are members of Bobcat United said they loved their jobs. However, operations at the shop were not as smooth as they would have liked, they said.

"We want to be paid when we’re supposed to be paid. We would like the work environment to be more dependable," said one former employee.

Another said they received no notice of the area closing up and worried about how they would pay their bills.

"Do the thing that’s right," they asked of management.

In a statement from the restaurant, they called the negative commentary about the chain "incredibly hurtful."

"We have always taken great pride in our place in the community. We are open to suggestions and changes in this ever evolving restaurant industry. Bobcat Bonnie’s will always be committed to being a place folks can take pride in working."

Workers will picket Thursday through Sunday along Nine Mile in Ferndale.

Tlaib accuses Kroger of exploring surge pricing

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib fears Kroger will use digital tags and facial recognition to spike prices, while the grocery chain denies this claim.

Tlaib said that Kroger is working with Microsoft on the facial recognition part of digital tags it plans to add to shelves. It wants to place cameras at digital displays to capture gender and age information of customers to create targeted advertisements.

But there are concerns that the tech will be used to raise prices. Surge pricing is where the cost is based on supply and demand or time-based pricing.

Kroger responded in a statement:

"Kroger’s business model is built on a foundation of lowering prices to attract more customers. Everything we do is designed to support this strategy, and customers are shopping more with Kroger now than ever because we are fighting inflation and providing great value.

"To be clear, Kroger does not, and has never, engaged in ‘surge pricing.’ Any test of electronic shelf tags is designed to lower prices for more customers where it matters most. to suggest otherwise is not true."

State launches new ballot tracking dashboard

To keep up with the voter interest while catering to the needs of transparency, the Michigan Secretary of State has unveiled a new election dashboard that will provide "a look under the hood" as Canton Township Clerk Michael Siegrist put it on Wednesday.

"Ballot requests, ballot returns, early voting turnout, and voter registration statewide and at the county level and locally - anyone, anyone can do an independent diagnostic check on the entire election system," he said. "That's exciting."

Every day, the Michigan Voting Dashboard will provide updates from around the state with updated figures on the number of ballots requested and returned to clerks, as well as early voting figures that are broken down to the city or township level.

The data will come from local clerks who are the first officials to receive ballots from voters. From there, those numbers will be plugged into the Qualified Voter File, which is where the state website is getting ballot information. Combined, the tool offers both a macro and micro view of trends across the state. 

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

A cold start leads to a nice day with temperatures around 60.

What else we're watching

1. One person is in custody after a stranger-danger incident Sunday night in Livonia. Police said two girls were walking when a man got out of a white van and asked them for their phone numbers. 
2. Video shows thieves stealing the Eats Detroit food truck from outside a home on Woodingham early Sunday. The owner said she was finalizing insurance and permits for her business when it was stolen. 
3. The Ann Arbor Police Department seized a 3D-printed gun inside a car during a traffic stop over the weekend. Police said the gun did not have a serial number and was taken from a car occupied by an 18-year-old and 19-year-old.
4. A settlement was reached in a 2020 wrongful arrest lawsuit tied to the Detroit Police Department's use of facial recognition technology. Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested by DPD because of the camera technology.
5. Months after 21 people were shot at a Fourth of July block party in Detroit, family of the victims are still searching for answers.

'Big Meech,' Black Mafia Family co-founder, released from jail

Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory, the infamous co-founder of the Black Mafia Family crime enterprise, has been released from jail and will finish his sentence at a halfway house, TMZ reported Wednesday.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons tells the entertainment media outlet that Flenory was transferred Tuesday from FCI Coleman Low in Wildwood to community confinement overseen by the Bureau of Prisons Miami Residential Reentry Management Office.

Flenory was arrested in 2005, and in 2008 he was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted on charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering. In 2024, a judge shortened his sentence by almost three years.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Flenory is expected to be released on Jan. 27, 2026.