Cincinnati men charged in ‘execution’ murder of marijuana business owner

Three suspects have been arrested after an “execution” murder of a marijuana business owner in Michigan led detectives to Cincinnati.

It happened on Jan. 13 around 8 p.m. when the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from a man who discovered his business partner had been found unconscious at their marijuana business.

Deputies arrived and found the victim face down. He was later determined to be dead.

The discovery triggered an investigation to locate the suspects, who Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said were masked and gloved when they “burst into the business.”

“They basically executed the owner. Shot him in the head, zip-tied him, then put a bag over his head,” Bouchard said.

The business was licensed by the city and was identified as a “marijuana grow operation” by the sheriff’s office.

Bouchard said this is a cautionary tale to marijuana businesses because they are “in the business of two things that are valuable to criminals: cash and drugs.”

Bouchard said the masked suspects did not take money, but believes they took about 50 pounds of marijuana.

Security footage captured parts of the incident, but detectives were unable to determine the plates on the car involved.

Bouchard said they know the suspects, or at least one of the suspects, met the owners at HashBash, an annual cannabis event held on the University of Michigan campus, and talked about some kind of business dealing.

According to Bouchard, that one person was let into the building and as he was leaving, the others burst in with masks and shot the owner.

The suspects were tracked to Ohio, and the sheriff’s office worked with Cincinnati police to serve search warrants and make the arrests.

Guns were recovered from the scene where the arrests were made.

All of the suspects are convicted felons, James Deir, ATF special agent in charge of the Detroit office, said.

“I think this case represents how law enforcement is supposed to work,” Deir said, calling it a “horrific crime.”

“Came up here with the sole intent to rob these folks and kill them. This is what they did,” Deir said.

Scott Brown, William Creasy and Deonte Prophett, who they believe is the shooter.

The sheriff’s office is still looking for a fourth suspect.