Two men have been charged with the 2022 fatal shooting of a runaway teenager from Berkley, prosecutors announced Friday.
Janiya Brown, 15, was found dead at about 10 a.m. May 11, 2022, in the 8800 block of Burnette Street, according to prosecutors. She had been shot multiple times.
Andrew Walker Jr. allegedly assaulted Janiya with a gun, then he and Russell McGilary allegedly shot at her multiple times before fleeing the scene. Walker and McGilary knew Janiya, prosecutors said. Assistant Prosecutor Maria Miller did not respond to say how they knew each other.
Both 23-year-old men are charged with first-degree murder and felony firearm.
Detroit police said in 2022 that Janiya had met a man on social media and was in a car with him when she had to stop and use the bathroom. When she got out, two men armed with handguns confronted and robbed the driver and took his vehicle, police said.
Janiya, who was from the Cleveland area, had been staying with an aunt in Berkley when she was reported as a runaway around midnight on April 23, 2022. She had notified relatives she did not plan on returning to her aunt’s home. The aunt had taken her in because of problems the youth had in an Ohio foster home after her mother died.
A third person, Russell Williams, has already been sentenced in connection with Janiya’s death. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and carjacking in January and was sentenced in May to 10 to 30 years in prison.
kberg@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: 2 men charged with 2022 murder of runaway Berkley teen
Reporting by Kara Berg, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kara Berg, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
