Federal prosecutors Tuesday charged a River Rouge man with a gun crime and said he is a suspect in the homicides of three people found in a burning vehicle in Detroit.
The case against Edward Delorean Redding, 29, was filed two days after the remains of three people were found when firefighters responded to a car blaze in an alley near 30th and Milford streets between Boxwood and Woodrow. The criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm provided new details about how police and federal agents identified him as a suspect, and found a black Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver inside his vehicle after a chase.
The Detroit Police Department announced the arrest Monday but did not identify the suspect by name. Investigators said the man was suspected of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her mother, killing the ex-girlfriend’s 9-year-old niece by stabbing her in the neck, then driving their bodies to the west side, where they were incinerated inside an SUV. Detroit Police have not publicly identified the victims.
Redding has a long criminal history that includes a conviction for carjacking, armed robbery and felony firearm in Wayne County. He was sentenced to 11-22 years in state prison and released on parole on July 9.
Redding made a brief appearance in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday afternoon, shuffling into the first-floor courtroom in a beige jailhouse jumpsuit, handcuffs and ankle chains, his right hand heavily bandaged in a white medical dressing. Redding bit his lip and cast his eyes toward the floor, a blank look on his face, while waiting 10 minutes for his case to be heard.
He said nothing beyond his name and answering “yes” several times to basic questions.
Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand ordered Redding held without bond until a Thursday detention hearing. Redding’s court-appointed lawyer, Senad Ramovic, could not immediately be reached for comment.
A federal felon in possession of a firearm charge is among the most straightforward counts that prosecutors can file in a short amount of time. Any additional charges related to the homicides could be filed in state court after the ongoing investigation.
The criminal case filed Tuesday provides a chronology of events after investigators discovered the bodies Sunday. Detectives reviewed information from license plate readers installed across the city and focused on license plate scans associated with the burning vehicle to determine if another vehicle was traveling nearby prior to it being set on fire, Timothy Madison, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, wrote in an affidavit.
Detectives managed to identify the color, make and model of a vehicle traveling nearby about 25 minutes before the bodies were discovered early Sunday morning.
The vehicle, a 2009 Saturn Vue, was spotted leaving the area where the burning SUV was later discovered.
After identifying the Saturn Vue and learning it was registered to Redding, investigators started hunting for the vehicle.
Detroit Police investigators soon found the silver Saturn and started surveilling it near River Rouge. Then the driver fled, according to the affidavit.
Soon after, a Michigan State Police trooper spotted it on southbound I-75 on the River Rouge Bridge.
“The trooper then attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the silver Saturn, however it accelerated away fleeing from the trooper,” the special agent wrote. “The silver Saturn started to take the exit for north Schaefer Hwy, before veering back onto I-75 southbound at the last second, driving through the shoulder to do so. The silver Saturn then passed a car in the right lane by driving on the shoulder and took the next exit for south Shaefer Hwy, driving approximately 50 mph through the tight corners on the exit ramp.”
Redding ran two red lights along Fort Street, crashed into the median and led investigators on a short foot chase, according to the court filing.
“Redding stated that he bought the silver Saturn after he was released from prison,” Madison wrote. “Redding initially stated he ran from the police because he’s on parole, and claimed he didn’t know the gun was in the car. However, Redding then later admitted to seeing the gun on the floor of the car and agreed with detectives that the gun was why he fled from the police.
“Redding said he was going to give the gun back to whoever put it in his car,” Madison added. “He also agreed with detectives that he touched the gun when he tried to push it under the seat, and therefore his DNA would likely be on the gun.”
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