Suspect in fatal shooting in Clawson last May sentenced to prison

CLAWSON — Tylaj Clark-Spencer, a 21-year-old resident of Howell, was sentenced in Oakland County Circuit Court last week to 75 months to 15 years in prison for manslaughter for a fatal shooting in Clawson last May.

Clark-Spencer also was sentenced to 31 months to 10 years for receiving and concealing a stolen firearm, and two years each for two charges of felony firearm. Clark-Spencer pleaded no contest to the charges.

The felony firearm sentences will be served concurrently to each other but consecutively to the other sentences, meaning he could spend more than 15 years behind bars. 

The shooting occurred on May 22 when Clark-Spencer, accompanied by a 20-year-old  and a 17-year-old juvenile, was leaving for a party with the 18-year-old victim. 

“Clark-Spencer was allegedly carrying a gun and was reportedly checking to see if it was loaded when the gun fired, killing the victim,” the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office press release states from last year. 

According to the press release, the juvenile present is alleged to have hidden the gun and other evidence for Clark-Spencer a few hours later, after he had fled the scene with the 20-year-old. The gun had allegedly been stolen from a safe that belongs to the juvenile defendant’s father. 

Clawson police arrived at the scene in the area of 14 Mile Road and Renshaw Avenue at around 10:31 p.m. May 22, where they found the 18-year-old and immediately began performing lifesaving measures with the assistance of Universal Ambulance personnel. 

“The loss of a life is an unimaginable tragedy. This tragedy was preventable and there is no sentence that can equate to the loss or bring the victim back,” Kellie Bauss, chief of Clawson Police, said via email. “Our hearts are with the family of the victim during this devastating time.”

Bauss said that she is “very proud” of the Clawson police officers who worked on the investigation. 

“Their hard work and dedication to this investigation led to a swift apprehension of the defendants and the efficient processing of the evidence,” Bauss said via email. “The Major Case Assistance Team is composed of Detectives from the Clawson Police Department, Birmingham Police Department, Royal Oak Police Department, Troy Police Department, Auburn Hills Police Department, Bloomfield Township Police Department, Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety, Rochester Police Department and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department. The team works together through an interlocal agreement and is activated in the event of a major incident in any of these jurisdictions. I would like to thank the Detectives from these agencies for their support and commitment to this investigation.”

Clark-Spencer’s attorney, Leonard Scott Ballard, declined to comment on the case.