By: Brian Wells | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published November 7, 2025
MACOMB COUNTY — Following a delay of more than 90 minutes and several additional witnesses called to testify, a juvenile who allegedly was fleeing from police and crashed into another vehicle, resulting in a Madison Heights man’s death, was ordered to stand trial on the charges against him.
On July 12, officers were called to the Eastwood Village apartment complex for a report of two individuals stealing cars. Officers located Daniel Shane Canales, 16, allegedly driving a stolen vehicle, attempting to leave the complex. When they attempted to initiate a stop, police said, he fled.
Clinton Township officers pursued Canales until the chase was terminated by a supervisor, according to police. However, Roseville officers located Canales shortly after and attempted to stop him again, according to police. He allegedly fled, leading officers on a chase into Warren, to the intersection of Van Dyke Avenue and 11 Mile Road, where he crashed, allegedly killing Alex Habib, a 28-year-old Madison Heights resident who died in the crash.
Canales, who was arraigned as an adult, is facing five charges: second-degree murder, a potential life felony; first-degree fleeing a police officer, a 15-year felony; operating with a suspended license causing death, a 15-year felony; third-degree fleeing a police officer, a five-year felony; and unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle, a five-year felony.
A preliminary exam hearing was held Nov. 3 in the 41B District Court in Clinton Township. It was a continuation of one that began Sept. 29 but was adjourned so Canales’ attorney, Robbie Lang, could review evidence to determine whether to call additional witnesses.
It was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. but didn’t start until about 2:45 p.m. The wait, according to 41B District Court Judge Jacob Fimminineo Jr., was caused by a delay in having the defendant transported from the county jail, which is roughly a mile from the courthouse.
“I was ready at 1. I think all of you were ready at 1. Macomb County Jail is in charge of transportation of the defendant, and for whatever reason, they could not bring him up until later, and it’s up to them,” he said. “They have a lot of people to transfer to different jurisdictions, so it was out of my control.”
Lang called three additional witnesses to the stand — two Clinton Township police officers and a Roseville police officer. His first witness, Clinton Township police officer Ryan DeVooght, was in one of the vehicles pursuing Canales.
Clinton Township Police Lt. Christopher Allis described why he made the decision to have officers terminate the pursuit.
While a number of factors would go into making the decision, he said he based his decision on the fact that Canales was driving with no lights on and running red lights on a city street.
“It was different when he was on the freeway,” Allis said. “I wasn’t comfortable letting the officers pursue on a city street.”
Roseville Police Lt. Justin Forrest decided to allow his officers to pursue.
He said he was confident in the information being provided to him by other officers, and he was aware of the road conditions, traffic conditions and location, which allowed officers to continue their pursuit.
After testimony, Lang argued Canales should not be bound over on a second-degree murder charge, stating that Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey Hall failed to show evidence to support it.
“You have to prove a certain state of mind and malice for purposes of a murder conviction. That wanton disregard and malice hasn’t been proven by any kind of testimony,” Lang said. “We have to infer from whatever testimony we’ve heard here on the state of mind.”
According to case law, Lang said, for malice to be implied, the defendant has to knowingly commit an act with high probability of death and a knowledge that death would result from his actions. He argued that Hall hadn’t proven that.
Hall said it’s rare to have a case where they know exactly what the defendant was thinking without the defendant saying. He also stated that any reasonable person would know cars are dangerous.
“A reasonable person, even at the young age of 16, knows cars are dangerous. You don’t go right into the road because you might get hit by one, and that driving one at 130 miles per hour could cause the risk of someone getting hit,” he said.
Hall said that anyone would know running red lights and stop signs and breaking the speed limit would create a risk of death or great bodily harm or injury.
Femminineo stated that at any point Canales could have pulled over and stopped, but he made the decision not to out of the fear of getting caught.
“If all those decisions being made by an individual is not a wanton and willful disregard to the likelihood that those tendencies could cause great bodily harm or death, then the defendant is living in a fantasy Grand Theft Auto world and not realizing what reality is,” he said.
In the end, Femminineo bound over Canales on all charges. Before dismissing, he wished Canales the best of luck.
“Mr. Canales, I wish you best of luck in the future, sir. I’m sorry you’re going through this, but I’m more sorry the family is going through this,” he said. “And I pray to God that some other kid making decisions in life will see the wrong decisions that you made and learn from it, and I hope that one day, maybe you’ll be able to be in a position to make better decisions.”