Man found guilty of 2022 Eastpointe murders

EASTPOINTE — A 62-year-old man was found guilty by a jury Feb. 23 of murdering two of his neighbors at an Eastpointe apartment complex in 2022.

The jury found that on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, Dennis Carlton Evans fatally shot his neighbors, Dorian Mitchell and Christie Davis, outside their apartment complex on 10 Mile Road in Eastpointe.

At an exam hearing held in 2022, an Eastpointe police officer testified that he arrived at the scene and located Davis in the back of a GMC vehicle, suffering from gunshot wounds. Davis told the officer that Evans shot her, and Mitchell was found dead nearby, according to the testimony.

Before dying of her injuries several days later, Davis told Eastpointe Police Detective Brian Showers that she and Mitchell found Evans in the hallway of their apartment earlier in the day. Evans was upset because someone had broken into his apartment and stolen drugs, and he blamed Davis and Mitchell, the officer said.

Mitchell and Davis left to run errands and get lunch, while Evans waited for them in the stairwell with a pistol, Showers said. When they returned home, Evans approached Mitchell outside the apartment complex, according to the testimony.

“She said, prior to shooting Mitchell, she was saying, ‘No, Dennis, no,’ and that’s after, subsequently, he shot Mitchell,” Showers said at the 2022 hearing. “And then after that, she retreated to the rear of the vehicle. He went around to that side of the vehicle. She stated to him, ‘You don’t have to do this,’ and he said, ‘Yes I do,’ and shot her.”

Evans fled to Texas, where he was arrested.

During a later interview, Evans allegedly told Showers that he had come to the conclusion that he had made a mistake and that Davis and Mitchell hadn’t broken into his apartment.

Later, Evans reportedly told Showers he had made a mistake.

“He stated that he didn’t believe that either one of them deserved to die,” Showers said at the hearing.

According to a press release from the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, Evans has previous convictions for second-degree murder.

On Feb. 23, after a three-day jury trial, Evans was found guilty on two charges of first-degree premeditated murder, punishable by life in prison without parole; three counts of felony firearm, second offense, and one count of felon in possession of a firearm, each of which are five-year felonies; and delivery/manufacture of a controlled substance 50 to 449 grams, a 20-year felony.

“Justice has been served for the victims and their families, and our community can find comfort in knowing that a dangerous individual has been held accountable for his actions,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said in a press release.

Evans is scheduled to be sentenced by Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Edward Servitto at 10:30 a.m. April 3 at the Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.

Evans’ attorney, Jeffery Cojocar, did not return a request for comment.