Mount Clemens

Two found guilty of Clinton Township murder

By Nico Rubello
C & G Staff Writer

A jury found two people guilty for their role in what the prosecution described as an armed robbery-turned-murder at a Clinton Township apartment building.

Larry Devel Stewart, 22, and Renyatta Annette Hamilton, 21, were both convicted in Macomb County Circuit Court on counts of felony murder for the Dec. 19, 2011 homicide of Kevin Brown Jr. Both were also convicted of firearms felony, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Bill Cataldo said Hamilton had lured Brown, of Highland Park, to Clemens Court Apartments the morning of Dec. 19 for a date.

Instead, Cataldo said, Brown walked into a trap; Hamilton and Stewart had arranged to have Stewart rob him at gunpoint.

However, the alleged robbery attempt took place in the hallway, but turned to a scuffle between Stewart and Brown, in which multiple gunshots were fired, Cataldo said.

While testifying, Stewart offered a differing account of the event while testifying, saying he and Brown began fighting in the hallway, but it was Brown who then pulled out the gun.

However, the Macomb County medical examiner testified that it was his opinion that none of Brown’s wounds were self-inflicted based on the angle of the wounds.

In the two men’s ensuing struggle for possession of the gun, one bullet grazed Stewart, one passed through the wall and struck Hamilton, who was in an apartment, and four struck Brown.

Brown’s mother, Michelle Triplett, said she was satisfied with the jury’s verdict.

“Kevin was a good person,” Triplett said. “He worked every day, and he didn’t deserve what happened to him.

“He didn’t know exactly what he was walking into,” she added. “He befriended the wrong person.”
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Nico Rubello at nrubello@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1118.