Southfield Westin shooting: Why no one has been charged after teen fatally shot
Chief: Friends of teen fatally shot at Southfield Westin one year ago refuse to talk
A one-year-old teen shooting death remains unsolved because of a lack of cooperation from his four friends - all witnesses to the crime, Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren said.
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - A year after a teen was fatally shot at a Southfield hotel, police say they are missing one key piece of the puzzle - an eyewitness.
Tyler Johnson, 15, was with a group of friends at the Westin Hotel when he was shot in the head the morning of Feb. 11, 2024. He died a few days later.
Teen shot at Southfield hotel
What we know:
Four other teens were inside the seventh-floor hotel room, which had been booked by an uncle, when Johnson was shot. Two of those teens fled after the shooting, while two others were detained near the elevator.
Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren said one of the detained minors was in possession of two firearms. One of the guns was reported stolen out of Flint in June 2023, while the other weapon was unregistered. One of those guns was found to be the one that killed Johnson, Barren said.
Further investigation in the hotel room revealed a spent 40 caliber shell casing, 20 live rounds inside a 9mm extended magazine, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, and a scale, police said.
The teen who had the guns was charged with carrying concealed weapons, but no other charges have been filed.
The Southfield Westin. Inset: Two handguns were recovered after the teen shooting.
Witnesses refuse to talk
What they're saying:
Barren said the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office hasn't been able to charge anyone because investigators don't know what transpired inside the hotel room.
"We have physical evidence. We have circumstantial evidence. What we need is an eyewitness to bring those things together," he said during a press conference Wednesday.
According to Barren, the parents of the four teens who were with Johnson have retained lawyers, and no one is talking to investigators.
He said that one parent did bring her child to the police department after the shooting, but when asked what happened inside the room, she said he needed a break and left. The teen was never questioned again because his family hired an attorney.
"We need these parents, these juveniles who were there, his friends, to have the courage to give the family justice," Barren said.
The police chief also said that he was "baffled" that the teens wouldn't share what led to Johnson being shot, noting that they were all his close friends.
"I would think that out of four witnesses, you at least have one that will say, ‘Hey, this isn't right. I know what happened,'" Barren said.
What we don't know:
Without talking to the people who were inside the hotel room the morning Johnson was shot, police don't know what led to the shooting. Because of this, Barren shied away from calling Johnson's death a murder.
"I just know at this point, the gun discharged inside of the hotel room. Somebody was handling that weapon, and I want to know what happened," he said. "We need evidence that would determine who was handling the weapon at the time that it was discharged, and also why the gun was discharged."
Mom of 15-year-old fatally shot at Southfield hotel seeks answers, reward offered
Crime Stoppers is now offering up to $2,500 for tips that lead to an arrest in Tyler Johnson's murder. The 15-year-old was shot in the head while staying in a hotel with other teens.
Barren did say there had been hearsay about who may have pulled the trigger, but without talking to the witnesses they can't move the case forward.
"Hearsay evidence is not admissible in court, and I can't even share with you the contents of that, but I will tell you, it leads us to know who our suspect is," he said.
What's next:
If one of the four witnesses chooses to speak to police, Barren said his department will be able to move the case forward and seek potential charges.
If they don't, Barren said investigators will attempt to speak to them when they turn 18.
"We're going to at least try because maybe out of four eyewitnesses, maybe one of them wants to talk, but maybe the parent isn't allowing them to talk," he said.
The Source: FOX 2 attended a Southfield Police press conference to obtain information for this story.