A Warren man accused of killing his roommate and hiding his body in 2023 was sentenced to decades in prison after pleading no contest to second-degree murder and other charges.
Donald Renfroe, 26, was sentenced July 7 before Macomb County Circuit Judge Anthony Servitto. He entered his plea May 19.
Renfroe was charged in the June 2023 slaying of James Wilkins, a 27-year-old father and football coach.
The court adopted a sentencing agreement, and Renfroe received 31-60 years in prison on second-degree murder; which will be served concurrent to 5-10 years in prison for tampering with evidence and 2-5 years in prison for concealing the death of an individual, according to online circuit court records.
Renfroe also was sentenced to two years in prison on a felony firearms offense, which is prior and consecutive to the other sentences. He received credit for 711 days, or nearly two years, served in the county jail, according to the records, and he is to have no contact with the victim’s family.
County prosecutors dismissed a charge of first-degree premeditated murder and a separate larceny by conversion case in which Renfroe was charged, according to court records.
Messages were left for his attorney, who could not be immediately reached for comment July 8.
“This case is tragic on every level. A young man lost his life, and another young man threw his future away by choosing violence. While his age speaks to wasted potential, it does not excuse the brutality of his actions,” County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in a release July 7, adding the sentence “holds him accountable and hopefully brings some measure of justice to the victim’s grieving family.”
Prosecutors previously said Renfroe shot Wilkins in their apartment and concealed the crime with the help of an accomplice, Darius Glenn, who also was charged. Wilkins was reported missing by family and friends after he didn’t show up for work.
Warren police previously said they had found a recently patched bullet hole in the wall of the apartment and what they suspected was blood. Police also searched a vehicle associated with Renfroe.
Police said that on the day Wilkins disappeared, Renfroe rented cleaning equipment and purchased additional cleaning supplies from a local hardware store. He also contacted and worked together with a friend, Glenn, to clean out Wilkins’ apartment and likely dispose of Wilkins’ body, police said.
Wilkins’ body was found five months later with information provided by Glenn, according to the prosecutor’s office. In November 2023, police announced that Wilkins’ body was found in a remote area in Oscoda Township in northern lower Michigan, about a three-hour drive north of Warren.
Renfroe and Glenn were charged in August 2023, in an unusual move because Wilkins’ body had not yet been found.
Glenn, 29, pleaded no contest June 4 to tampering with evidence in the case in circuit court. Prosecutors are to dismiss charges of accessory after the fact to a felony and concealing the death of an individual as well as a charge of controlled substance – possession/analogues in a separate case at sentencing July 23, according to court records.
The records indicate Glenn was to provide truthful testimony against Renfroe, and no additional jail time. Glenn is on bond, according to court records.
Former Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said in 2023 that police believed Wilkins and Renfroe, a longtime friend of Wilkins, argued and the shooting occurred in the apartment, though no one reported hearing anything.
Renfroe fled to Ohio, where he was arrested on unrelated charges and extradited to Michigan. Detectives seized several handguns belonging to Renfroe. Dwyer previously said they believed one of the handguns was used in the homicide.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Warren man to spend decades in prison after killing roommate, hiding his body
Reporting by Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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