Ypsilanti murder suspect named person of interest in Detroit double murder where infant was found
FOX 2 - UPDATE (10 p.m.) Orlando Whitfield has turned himself into police for questioning Tuesday night.
The person of interest in a grisly double murder in Detroit where the infant of the victims was found in the home is the same suspect accused of a 2018 murder in Ypsilanti.
Orlando Whitfield, 32, was named in connection Tuesday to a double-murder of a 31-year-old man and his 27-year-old girlfriend inside a home on the city's northwest side in the 18000 block of Northlawn. The couple's 9-month-old infant was luckily found unharmed inside.
Murder suspect Orlando Whitfield.
Whitfield is already facing six felonies for the murder of 25-year-old Marissa Edmunds to death in January of 2018 during a robbery in University Green apartments.
Edmunds was shot in the head, and her boyfriend was seriously injured.
Whitfield, who is considered a habitual offender, has a history of fleeing police and sexual assault. He was also accused of making a shank while in jail but a jury found him not guilty.
Judge Carol Kuhnke released him last May on a GPS tether, citing the need for a speedy trial during the pandemic.
Last year Whitfield's attorney, Erika Julien, said Whitfield has the absolute right to the presumption of innocence and has been strongly asserting his innocence for the past two-and-a-half years.
"While the current public health crisis has hampered the jury trial system, there were a number of previous delays that were not caused by my client, but were more so directly related to our inability to obtain crucial information for his defense," Julien said in a statement at that time.
On June 15, Edmunds' family was notified he had cut off his tether, according to reports.
Photo of double murder suspect, courtesy Detroit police.
In this most recent incident, the infant's father was found bound, gagged, and executed while the baby's mother was found dead upstairs.
Anyone with information regarding Whitfield's whereabouts or the incident, to contact the Homicide division at 313-596-2260 or by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak-Up where you will remain anonymous.