Rewind: News from the last 7 days

The 16 and 20-year-olds critically injured during the May 27 mass shooting in the parking lot between Rotary Park and Lansing Shuffle were upgraded Thursday to stable condition. Kylete Owens, 17, was pronounced dead at Sparrow Hospital, while the other four victims who suffered non-life-threatening injuries were released. Friends and family gathered May 29 at Kensington Meadows Park in south Lansing to remember Owens, releasing several dozen blue balloons into the sky..

Lansing Public Schools Superintendent Benjamin Shuldiner emailed district families Thursday and Sunday following the shooting, focusing on discouraging victim-blaming and building up the student community. “This is not a story of kids up to no good in a park … (or) how there needs to be activities for the students to keep them off the streets,” he wrote. “This is a tragedy about how effortless it is to get a gun. How simple it is to drive by and shoot at a group of people.” He added that a crisis intervention task force was deployed throughout the district and detailed a variety of other resources for community support.

Kalil Calunga-Rodriguez, 17, of Lansing, was killed Sunday in a possible drive-by shooting in Jackson. The teen was found outside the back door of a home on the city’s south side. He died at Henry Ford Jackson Hospital. Police said they believe the suspect shot the victim from a vehicle that was eastbound on Griswold Street. 

Cynthia Marek, 65 was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher May 23 when her son, Brandon Labrie, fatally attacked her with a utility knife, the Lansing State Journal reported based on court documents.  The killing was recorded on the 911 call. Labrie, 42, was charged with open murder and held without bond. A hearing is set for June 7.

Haslett Public Schools announced May 29 that it has hired Patrick Malley as superintendent, starting July 1. Malley has served as chief academic officer for Bay City Public Schools since 2019. He succeeds Steve Cook, who served eight years and previously was director of finance and chief financial officer.

Construction is starting for a new Willow Elementary School in north Lansing after a groundbreaking ceremony Monday. The district hopes to open the new K-8 school in fall 2026. It is being funded by a $129.7 million bond that was passed in 2022 to rebuild Willow, Mt. Hope STEAM Magnet School, Lewton School and Sheridan Road STEM Magnet School. Willow’s classes have been taking place at Riddle Elementary School due to demolition and planned replacement of the building constructed in the early 1950s.

Pride flags have been stolen this spring from at least three homes on Lansing’s east side, according to WLNS 6 News. Luna Brown reported that her Pride flag was targeted among several flags on her porch and that the hook it was on was mangled. She said a neighbor warned her that Pride flags were being stolen and she knows of two other such instances. Lansing officials raised the Pride flag Friday over City Hall, marking the first year it will fly it for the entire month of June.

Anthony Anderson Jr., 29, was sentenced Monday to life in prison for the 2022 murder of Curshawn “Kaz” Terrell in Terrell’s recording studio on East Michigan Avenue in Lansing Township. Anderson was convicted April 22. He was also sentenced to at least 27 years in prison for shooting recording engineer Shaquille Brown, who survived, but that sentence will be served simultaneously.

Djarou Aboubakar, 20, and Jamari Parker, 18, have been charged with armed robbery and other offenses after police said they robbed a pizza delivery driver outside of MSU’s Snyder Hall Friday. Both also face two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of felony firearm. The driver, who has not been identified, sustained minor injuries. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 20 at 54B District Court.

Public Safety

The driver of a tractor was killed Thursday at Jim’s Rubbish in Bath Township when the vehicle rolled over due to a culvert collapse. The tractor rolled into a drainage ditch and the unidentified driver died at the scene, police said.