The man accused of shooting a mother in front of her young son during a carjacking at an Orion Township mall this week has been charged, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday.
Mauriel Dashawn Hearn was arraigned Friday in 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills on eight felony counts, including assault with intent to murder and carjacking, both of which could be punishable by any term of years in prison, including life, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
The 25-year-old Ann Arbor resident also faces three felony firearm counts, fleeing a police officer, resisting a police officer, and carrying a concealed weapon.
Investigators contend Hearn was sitting at a table outside Panera Bread, waiting to find someone to carjack. When he saw the woman and her son leave the neighboring Old Navy store, he ran up to them, opened fire and stole her keys as well as her car.
Using FLOCK and OnStar data, law enforcement located the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, according to the prosecutor’s office. Hearn allegedly fled, at times reaching speeds topping 100 mph, then hit a guardrail. He jumped out of the vehicle and was later apprehended on foot.
“The victims, a mother and her young child, should never have been placed in this dangerous situation because I believe this defendant should be behind bars for previous crimes,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a statement Friday. “My priority is always public safety. As prosecutors, we have a responsibility to protect the public from violent individuals like the defendant in this case. If we lose sight of that, bad things can happen to good people. I look forward to working with law enforcement to hold this defendant accountable and protect our communities.”
The victim remains hospitalized as of Friday, officials said. She is expected to recover from her injuries.
On Wednesday, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Hearn had been spared prison time for a prior violent attack on another woman. Hearn was on probation for a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm stemming from a late 2024 incident in Washtenaw County, Bouchard said.
In that incident, the suspect allegedly constrained a woman using duct tape and hog-tied her to a bed, Bouchard said.
In the days since the carjacking, Bouchard has vocally called on prosecutors and judges to refrain from releasing suspects accused of serious crimes on no-cash bail and sentencing convicted violent offenders to probation in lieu of prison time.
“Public safety must come before ideology. Protecting law-abiding citizens from repeat violent offenders is a basic government responsibility,” the sheriff said in a statement. “Reckless criminal justice policies have real victims, and it is time for greater accountability from every part of the system.”
In court on Friday, Hearn pleaded not guilty and was denied bond, according to online court records. His next hearing is slated for 8:30 a.m. June 2.
Online court records do not list an attorney for him.
laguilar@detroitnews.com
mreinhart@detrointnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Man charged in Orion Twp. mall carjacking
Reporting by Louis Aguilar and Max Reinhart, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
