Saginaw
Longtime fugitive arraigned in 2 Saginaw killings
SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man accused of killing the mother of his 3-year-old son during a year on the run from the fatal drive-by shooting of a 6-year-old girl has been arraigned on two first-degree murder charges.
Twenty-four-year-old Michael D. Lawrence appeared Tuesday in Saginaw County District Court. He says he plans to hire a lawyer.
An FBI-led task force captured Lawrence Aug. 30 in Las Vegas.
Saginaw police say Lawrence killed 23-year-old Angelica Olivarez. Police discovered her body April 15 in her home after 3-year-old Michael Lawrence III was found wandering the streets.
Authorities accuse four men in the August 2012 slaying of 6-year-old Layla Jones in Saginaw.
Three others were arrested last year. One is serving life for first-degree murder, another awaits trial and a third is aiding investigators.
Flint
Future of floating house up in the air
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A structure designed to look like a floating house in downtown Flint that was built as part of an art project will be torn down or moved elsewhere, organizers said.
Stephen Zacks, founder and director of the Flint Public Art Project, told The Flint Journal that those involved are still looking for the best option. Also known as “Mark’s House,” the structure was built for this summer’s Flat Lot Competition.
“It is a project that we believe could find a new home, but it wasn’t planned to last beyond the summer,” Zacks said. “It was meant to be a temporary, 3-monthlong installation. So it wasn’t made with materials to last — that would have cost 10 times as much.”
The shiny structure, which looks like a house atop a large pedestal, has attracted a lot of attention in Flint and mixed reviews.
Deborah Hall, 62, of Flint, first encountered the project Tuesday.
“It looks nice, that’s all I can say,” she said. “But it’s right in the middle of a parking (lot). Look at all the spaces it’s taking up.”
The project was built on Flint Downtown Development Authority property. Gerard Burnash, the DDA’s executive director, said the organization would like to see it taken down before Nov. 2, the date of a planned downtown watch party for the Michigan-Michigan State football game.
Designers in the contest this year had a $25,000 budget to build a structure that artistically represented Flint and could be used for festivals, taking up eight parking spaces. More than 220 entries were submitted from designers in 35 countries.
Superior Twp.
Police: Just-freed robber stabbed girlfriend to death
SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — An ex-con fresh out of prison for a robbery conviction has been charged with murder in the stabbing of his 23-yer-old girlfriend outside her Ann Arbor-area home.
Authorities say 35-year-old Stanley W. Harrison got in a fight with Shandar Turner and stabbed her early Friday in Superior Township. MLive.com says her twin 4-year-old boys may have witnessed the killing.
The Washtenaw County sheriff’s department says that Harrison was arraigned Tuesday on an open charge of murder. Police say he was released from prison three days before Turner’s slaying.
