Grandmother shot to death as retaliation, according to testimony

Shlindrill Lewis died in the driveway of a residence on Saginaw's east side last October. A total of six people were arrested for the crime in March and appeared in court Thursday.

Investigators say the brothers believed someone tried to kill their mother, so they struck back and killed Lewis as revenge.

Tamaris Jones, Tarik Jones and Tauren Jones are all accused of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 54-year-old Lewis.

Breyunna Lee, who is free on bond and faces a solicitation of murder charge, waived her right for a preliminary hearing Thursday, as did Antonio Moore.

One of the accused shooters, Alexander Jones, is also charged in the case. The three co-defendants testified in the Jones' brothers preliminary hearing, but their identities were concealed while they testified.

They said Tamaris and Tauren Jones and three other men were in a car, driving around the city looking for the mother of who they believed tried to kill their own mother.

When they spotted her in the car on Capehart Drive in the Sheridan Hills subdivision, one of the co-defendants and Tamaris Jones got out of the car. Lewis was killed in front of her grandchild, who also was in the car but was not injured.

Testimony indicated Tarik Jones was not in the car when the men were looking for Lewis, but was on a cell phone talking with one of the men. His attorney says the killer didn't implicate Tarik Jones.

"He did not have any direct contact with Tarik Jones," attorney Alan Crawford said. "Not only did he not have any direct contact with Tarik Jones, he said Tarik Jones never told me to go over and kill this man's mother, or this man, Tarik Jones never paid me money. for the homicide."

But in the end, Judge David Hoffman bound all three men over to circuit court to face trial in the shooting death of Lewis.

The Jones brothers and Alexander Jones, who is not related to the brothers, and Antonio Moore all remain in jail awaiting further court proceedings.