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Father identifies teen son killed in Muskegon shooting

The 14-year-old shot an killed in Muskegon Wednesday has been identified as Demario Spears Jr. by his father.

MUSKEGON, Mich. — The teenager who was shot and killed in Muskegon Wednesday morning has been identified by his father.

14-year-old Demario Spears Jr. was shot and killed around 11 a.m. on Jiroch Street in Muskegon.

Four people—one adult and three juveniles—were arrested in relation to the shooting on Thursday morning.

The juveniles allegedly involved faced charges at the time of publication, though the adult tied to the crime had not yet been charged or identified.

Charges announced or in process against the former included:

  • Carrying a concealed weapon
  • Tampering with evidence
  • Resisting/obstructing
  • Felony firearm

Two of the three suspects had their hearings adjourned until May 9.

Police say that Spears was shot in the torso and died on the scene.

Neighbors told 13 OYS that a bystander rushed to the teen's side with a towel, in an effort to staunch the blood flow.

"People now are wondering, are their children safe," Sam Turnipseed, a long-time resident questioned aloud. "We want to know what the community, what the law enforcement, what the city halls, what are they going to do? How are we all going to come together to fix some of this. This is unacceptable."

"It's knocking at everyone's door now," he added. "So now we all need to wake up, wake up and see what's going on around us. Now's the time to do something about it."

A local urologist, Dr. Brian Stork, has seen many young victims. 

"The trauma, the physical trauma, the emotional trauma, the trauma to the family, the trauma to the community, it's really heartbreaking," he says.

He's also a community advocate behind a partnership to prevent gun violence. The program is called SafER Teens, trying to speak to at-risk teenagers hurt in the emergency room before they find themselves in another bad situation.

"The idea is to try to intervene during those three or four times to ask screening questions to see if youth are at risk for fighting or other violent behavior, and then to offer them an intervention and say, 'Hey, let's think about what you want to do with your life. Let's think about how alcohol, drugs and violence might affect that plan. And let's kind of work together to steer you on the right course,'" Dr. Stork says.

Spears' father provided 13 ON YOUR SIDE with pictures of his son, whose 14th birthday was in November of 2022.

Credit: Provided by father
Credit: Provided by father

Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson noted additional charges could be forthcoming as the investigation continued. 

He credited detective work and public involvement with moving the case forward:

"Law enforcement in their efforts over the last 24 hours... they have really been able to work very diligently and quickly and put us in a position where we are today," Hilson related. "We're now... trying to evaluate everything that they've done and figure out what our next steps are."

If anyone has any information on this incident, please call the Muskegon Police Department at 231-724-6750 or Silent Observer at 231-722-7463.

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