By: Brian Wells | Warren Weekly | Published August 15, 2025
WARREN — A former Warren police officer who was behind the wheel during a high-speed crash that killed two occupants of another vehicle in late 2024 will stand trial.
James Burke was driving a Warren police SUV, allegedly without emergency lights and sirens at speeds of more than 110 mph, on Schoenherr Road in Warren at around 5 a.m. Sept. 30, 2024, when he hit a white Dodge Durango that was attempting to turn left from Schoenherr onto Prospect Avenue.
The passengers of the Durango, Cedric Hayden Jr., 34, and DeJuan Pettis, 33, were both killed. Burke and the officer he was with sustained serious injuries.
Burke is facing two counts of manslaughter with a motor vehicle, a 15-year felony; one count of moving violation causing serious impairment of a body function, a 93-day misdemeanor and willful neglect of duty by a public officer, a one-year misdemeanor.
The exam hearing for Burke began in June and concluded Aug. 15. While Burke and his attorney appeared via Zoom, family members of the victims filled the gallery in the courtroom.
Judge delivers verdict, says improper turn ‘the heart of this case’
At the Aug. 15 hearing, 37th District Court Judge John Chmura called testimony regarding an improper turn made by the victims into question.
For him to bind Burke to Circuit Court, he said the prosecutors had to show enough evidence to prove two elements — the first being that Burke operated his vehicle in a grossly negligent manner, and that that conduct caused the death of Hayes and Pettus.
While the prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to prove the first element, the second was harder to prove due to an improper turn that had previously been testified to by a witness.
“For this illegal turn made by the driver of the Durango to be a viable defense, it’s got to be something that is not reasonably foreseeable. It goes beyond ordinary negligence,” Chmura said. “So that question, really, is the heart of this case. I think this is where the rubber meets the road.”
Testimony heard June 23 by a witness called by Assistant Macomb County Prosecuting Attorney Cory Newman, while being cross-examined by Marc Curtis, Burke’s attorney, pointed out that Hayden, who was driving the Durango, made a left-hand turn from Schoenherr onto Prospect a moment early, which caused him to cross a double yellow line instead of turning at the break in the line, according to a reconstruction of the crash.
Curtis argued the turn made by Hayden is what caused the crash.
At the Aug. 15 hearing, Chmura said it was hard to determine if the prosecutors had provided enough evidence to prove that a person could believe that the turn made by the driver of the Durango was reasonably foreseeable and did constitute ordinary negligence.
“There are reasons to believe that what the driver of the Durango did, did constitute ordinary negligence. And the strongest reason to believe that is that that type of turn that he made, where he cut the corner, is something that we all do,” Chmura said.
Because improper turns happen so often, Chmura said, it should be foreseeable. Alternatively, he said, that because the turn was made so close to where Burke’s vehicle was, it could not be foreseeable.
“I don’t know which argument should prevail, but that’s why we have jury trials to determine that,” he said. “That’s why this is a hard case, because the arguments are strong and compelling in both ways. Because they’re strong and compelling in both ways, the jury must decide which, as I said, is why we have jury trials.”
Chmura called police policy into question, asking how fast officers should be allowed to drive when pursuing a suspect, stating that this is what the case is really about.
“This has been in the news a lot lately, and the question is, particularly in chases, how fast should officers go? How aggressively should they go after people who are suspects? Now this, again, is not a chase, but the considerations that are involved in police chases are applicable here,” he said.
People argue both sides of the case, he said.
“That’s what this case really is all about, in my opinion, is how aggressively should officers pursue potential subjects,” he said. “And however this case is decided, it will result in some commentary and some statement as to what that standard should be. At least in this community, in a free society, it is far, far better that that statement be made by 12 people … who make that decision after a vigorous debate, after coming to some sort of consensus on what that policy should be in deciding this case.”
For that reason, Chmura said, he would be binding the case over to Circuit Court for trial.
Burke is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 2.
Family dissatisfied with case so far
Following the hearing, Greg Wix, an attorney with the Fieger Law firm, which is representing the families of both victims, said they were relieved with the ruling but unhappy with the case.
“We’re at least relieved that this former officer has now been bound over, but make no mistake — we’re not happy. We’re not even satisfied,” he said. “This officer, we believe, was undercharged from the very beginning.”
Wix said if the court was interested in justice, the bind over to circuit court would have happened months ago. He also stated he believed there was evidence against Burke that hadn’t been released yet.
“There’s a lot of evidence that we don’t have yet because the prosecutor’s office has it on hold until the criminal prosecution is over,” he said. “We can’t get all the evidence. As a matter of fact, I haven’t even seen the vehicles in person.”
Cedric Hayden, Cedric Hayden Jr.’s father, was unhappy with the Warren Police Department.
“(Cedric Hayden Jr.) wasn’t a drunk, wasn’t labeled an alcoholic. He’d never been in a car accident, but he leaves this world in a crime scene because he was hit by one police officer flying down the street,” he said.
Cedric Hayden said his son rarely drank alcohol, and that Burke wasn’t being treated with the same disrespect as his son.
“If my son would have hit (Burke) he would go to jail. This would have been over last year,” he said. “Give him the same respect as you give this former officer. He deserves justice. DeJuan deserves justice.”
Cedric Hayden accused the department of trying to cover up Burke’s alleged misconduct.
“They want to cover this up because he’s an officer. So in other words, if you are an officer, you can do crime and get away with it … you got a title so you can do what you want to do, because you got a title,” he said. “I’ve got a title. I’m a father, and I want my son back. That’s my title. We want DeJuan back.”