By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

FERNDALE — The convicted murderer accused of robbing Mayor Craig Covey’s house and stealing his car in April will soon face charges in Oakland County Circuit Court.

At a preliminary exam in Ferndale’s 43rd District Court on Dec. 3, Judge Joe Longo bound the case of Damion Butler, 23, of Detroit over to circuit court following testimony from Covey and Ferndale police. Butler, described by police as a career criminal, has been charged in the case with first-degree home invasion, a 20-year felony, and unlawful driving away of an automobile, a five-year felony.

On Nov. 23, Butler was sentenced to at least 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the June 1, 2008, shooting of 28-year-old Anthony Moxley of Hamtramck. Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Edward Ewell sentenced Butler to 19 to 40 years for the murder, as well as an additional two years for a felony firearms charge.

According to the Michigan Offender Tracking Information System, Butler is also a parole absconder who had previously served time in prison for receiving and concealing stolen property in February 2006 and unlawful driving away of an automobile in December 2005.

Although he was glad to learn that Butler will going away to prison for a long time, Covey was “disappointed” when he learned that should Butler be found guilty of the home invasion and auto theft charges, he would likely serve that sentence concurrently with the murder conviction sentence.

“Our system is not perfect — that’s for sure,” he said. “But I am committed to fulfilling my responsibilities in this process, and I hope that justice is served. … Yes, I’m very pleased that the perpetrator was caught, but it doesn’t make this experience any less harrowing. I hope he serves the full 21 years.”

At the preliminary exam, Covey testified that while he was asleep in bed on the night of April 17, a thief entered his home on West Breckenridge Street and stole his television, cell phone, jewelry and keys before taking off in his 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. The side door to his home had accidentally been left unlocked overnight, Covey said. Six days later, Ferndale police recovered Covey’s SUV in Detroit, on I-75 near the Davison Freeway exit, where it was smashed up beyond repair.

While the case was initially a mystery to police, they were later able to link Butler to the crime after dusting for fingerprints at Covey’s home. Ferndale officer Edward Ungerman testified that he located the prints on the drawer of Covey’s jewelry box. The prints were then pulled and sent to the FBI’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System, Ungerman said, where Butler was found as a match.

However, based on an interrogation following Butler’s arrest, police are still unsure if he had any motive that would have specifically placed him at Covey’s house that night, or if it was a mere coincidence. Police Chief Mike Kitchen has said that burglars typically do not choose homes at random and that it seems highly unlikely that a thief could have just randomly stumbled across the mayor’s home.

In court, defense attorney Tom McGuinness argued that the evidence against Butler was shaky and that the burglary of Covey’s home and the theft of his car could have been two separate crimes.

“There is no evidence that my client was ever found at that scene,” he said. “Only one fairly legible fingerprint (in the home) could be traced to Mr. Butler. There is no physical evidence that Mr. Butler had anything to do with the stolen car.”

But Longo ultimately ruled that Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Carmen DeFranco had presented sufficient evidence of probable cause for the case to go to trial in circuit court.

For Covey, testifying proved to be a distasteful experience. He noted that Butler, seated in the courtroom in a navy blue jumpsuit and shackled in handcuffs, appeared to be in an unusually cheerful mood for someone who had just been sentenced to 20-plus years in prison a week and a half earlier.

“The worst part of this was seeing the defendant face to face and having him smiling and smirking at me on the witness stand,” Covey said. “Having to go over (the crime) again also brought back a lot of the stress and anxiety I was feeling at that time. Reliving all those memories was very unpleasant — it was like opening an old wound.”

At press time, no dates in Oakland County Circuit Court had yet been set for Butler’s case.

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jselweski@candgnews.com or at (586) 218-5004.