Suspect involved in Sumpter Twp. homicides is now in custody, police confirmed
SUMPTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A statewide manhunt ended late Sunday night when a suspect involved in a quadruple homicide Saturday morning turned himself into a mid-Michigan sheriff's office.
Raymond Lee Bailey, 37, reportedly turned himself into the Bay County Sheriff's department and was expected to be transported to the Sumpter Township Police department. The Wyandotte man allegedly shot and killed four people, including a woman whom he had a previous relationship with.
Following reports of gunshots, police identified Bailey as being responsible for the killings after the suspect confirmed the incident to friends and family through text messages.
A GoFundMe set up Sunday morning to pay for funeral expenses identified the victims as Neil and Forrest Sampson and Sara and Laura Tanner. Laura was Bailey's ex-fiance. A statewide search for the suspect began following the discovery of the victims at a home in the 24900 block of Martinsville, a road located south of Belleville.
Suspect wanted for quadruple shooting in Sumpter Township in custody
The 37-year-old man wanted for killing four people including a former ex-girlfriend has turned himself into Bay County police after a statewide manhunt alert was issued for him. Raymond Lee Bailey will be transported to Sumpter Township police.
In a Facebook post made by the Sumpter Township Police Department, a release said officers found "two males and two females, all in their 30's dead of apparent gunshot wounds."
"I thought somebody was hunting because people hunt around here," said one neighbor who heard the shots. "And I thought 'wow, just shoot, shoot, shoot...'"
Bailey was believed to be driving north toward the Upper Peninsula at the time of the post. "A short time later, detectives were made aware that he had allegedly confessed to the killings to several people via telephone and texts."
Bailey's vehicle was discovered abandoned on the side of the road near Bay City, north of Saginaw. Sumpter Township police updated the post at 10:20 p.m. stating the suspect had turned himself in.
"Fiercely loyal to each other and their families, these siblings/cousins/mothers and fathers/daughters and sons put family first, and now our family desperately needs your help to quickly raise funeral expenses," read the GoFundMe post.
It was immediately clear what led to the shootings.