On the night of August 16, 2022, 36-year-old Farries Deatos Maxwell was found on the sidewalk at the intersection of North 7th and Ferry Streets in Niles, Michigan, with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital and died of his injuries. Eyewitnesses reported up to three people running from the scene after the shooting.

Investigators tied Maxwell’s killing to a wider pattern of violence in the city. Police believe his homicide helped trigger a series of retaliatory shootings, including the September 8 death of Raquon Glenn a block away and a later shooting that killed two teenagers, 15-year-old Demi Galvin and 18-year-old Yasmeen Scott. Authorities described the incidents as stemming from a family dispute that became violent, with some participants thought to have gang connections.

Suspicion in the Glenn killing focused at one point on Maxwell’s son, Farries Deshawn Maxwell Jr., then 18, who was arrested and accused of revenge for his father’s death; his girlfriend told investigators she dropped him near the scene and that he had confessed. After about a year in jail, charges against Farries Jr. were dropped amid questions about witness reliability, though prosecutors have left open the possibility of refiling if new evidence appears. Any tips that could identify those responsible are still being sought.