Plea deal possible in case of Grosse Pointe Woods man accused of murdering younger brother

GROSSE POINTE WOODS/DETROIT — A plea deal is likely in the case of Edmond Doheny, the Grosse Pointe Woods man accused of murdering his younger brother, Dennis Doheny, in the early morning hours of Oct. 6.

At a final conference hearing in the case March 13 in front of 3rd Circuit Court Judge Kevin Cox in Detroit, attorneys on both sides told the judge that they were engaged in talks for a plea agreement.

“There’s been a preliminary offer made,” Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor James Kehoe told Cox. “We’re still in the process of plea negotiation. … (The offer to Doheny on the table now) is to plead to a reduced count of manslaughter, which is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, with the felony firearm (charge) that would have a sentence that would require the two years for the felony firearm to run consecutively to and preceding a term of one to 15 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections.”

Doheny was originally charged with open murder and felony firearm for the incident, in which he is said to have fired a single shot into the back of his brother’s head. Witnesses at a preliminary hearing said the brothers had a good relationship with one another, and Doheny’s family — including his mother and remaining siblings — have stood by him during his court hearings.

Police during the preliminary exam said Doheny carried his wounded brother from an upstairs bedroom to the first floor of the house, where they found him applying pressure to his brother’s wound. Police said Doheny’s blood alcohol level showed that he was intoxicated at the time he is alleged to have shot his brother.

With the blessing of both Kehoe and Doheny’s defense attorney, Robert Ihrie, Cox set a continuation of the final conference for 9 a.m. April 8 in his courtroom.

Cox said he would review a competency exam of Doheny — which he said Ihrie would be filing for before April 1 — and also asked for the preliminary exam transcript and reports from investigators in the case, “to have as much information as possible” before the continuation of the final conference.

“In all criminal matters, there are always discussions with regard to plea bargains,” Ihrie said after the March 13 hearing. “And (those) discussions are taking place right now.”

Ihrie has insisted from the beginning that his client didn’t plan or intend to kill his brother.

“This was nothing premeditated, nothing intentional,” Ihrie said. “It was simply a tragic accident.”

Ihrie said the situation has been “very difficult” for his client and the rest of the Doheny family, who lost their youngest member, Dennis, on his 19th birthday.

Edmond Doheny — who fought tears during a probable cause hearing Oct. 18 in Grosse Pointe Woods Municipal Court — “is doing as well as might be expected under the circumstances,” Irie said.