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Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide, with Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido, left, speaks to the media Nov. 11 during a press conference at the Police Department. Shelide spoke about how police came to arrest a suspect in a double homicide at a used car dealership Nov. 7.
Photo by Erin Sanchez
Sandles
Batoo
Baban
SHELBY TOWNSHIP — A 46-year-old man from Houston has been charged with multiple felonies after two men were found dead inside a used car dealership in Shelby Township Nov. 7.
Terrance Jermaine Sandles was arraigned Nov. 10 in the 41A District Court on two counts of first-degree, premeditated murder; two counts of armed robbery; and several weapons charges. First-degree murder carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison without parole.
“These are very serious charges,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said. “They are very serious in nature and to have it happen here in our neighborhood, as well as in Macomb County, is not just troubling, it’s tragic.”
Lucido said a drug charge and a related gun charge was withdrawn because another drug-enforcement agency is interested in that aspect of the case.
Shelby Township police were dispatched to Star Auto Sales, 47092 Ryan Road, north of Auburn Road, for a welfare check at approximately 12:28 p.m. Nov. 7.
“An employee who was out buying parts at the time came back into the office and observed his boss and another male down in the office with gunshot wounds,” Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide said during a Nov. 11 press conference.
When officers arrived on the scene at 12:41 p.m., they discovered the two men — the owner of the business, Marvan Batoo, 40, of Shelby Township, and Ghaith Baban, 48, of Clinton Township — dead from gunshot wounds, and five 9 mm shell casings inside the office.
Shelide said Sandles was captured on surveillance video entering the business and shooting Batoo and Baban at “point-blank range.”
“The video shows the suspect was a Black male wearing black clothing and wearing a mask to hide his identity,” he said. “The video also showed the suspect exiting the store and leaving the business on foot. He walked away very coolly.”
Three weeks earlier, Sandles was allegedly caught on camera in a dispute with Star Auto Sales over a $3,000 Hummer he had purchased from the location.
Shelide said that Sandles acted intentionally.
“He didn’t go in to rob, and this was no hit. He went in to kill that man, kill the owner,” Shelide said. “Mr. Baban just happened to be there at the time.”
Through surveillance footage and the use of Flock cameras positioned throughout the township, police identified Sandles’ alleged getaway vehicle, a Turo rental. Flock cameras are designed to read license plates.
The next morning, at around 5:45 a.m., police arrested Sandles during a raid of his room at a hotel near Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus. The Prosecutor’s Office said authorities found evidence linking Sandles to the crime, including two guns and cash. A large amount of cocaine was also found at the scene, according to authorities.
Police believe Sandles, who has an open arrest warrant from the Houston area, was in Michigan staying at the Romulus hotel after fleeing Texas.
The Prosecutor’s Office said Sandles is a fourth-offense habitual offender.
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said the police departments in Romulus, Utica and Sterling Heights, along with the Michigan State Police and the FBI, assisted in the case.
“It takes an army to bring someone to justice,” he said.
Sandles is being held without bond in the Macomb County Jail, where he will remain until his next court hearing Nov. 24. He requested a court-appointed attorney who had not yet been appointed at press time, according to court records.
