Detroit, MI
19-year-old man charged in 2022 murder of Detroit father of 3
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Alisa Sanders was close to giving up hope that her son’s killer would ever be caught after nearly three years went by since he was shot on Detroit’s west side.
But when she got a call from the Detroit Police Department saying that a man had been taken into custody, her hope changed.
“Hopeful, prayerful — that’s how I feel,” Sanders said.
Sanders is talking about the space she has been in since the moment she found out someone had been charged in her youngest son’s murder.
“When it happened, I didn’t know what to do, where to go,” the mother of four said.
Her son Derrell Rockette, 32, was gunned down in December of 2022. He was a father of two with another baby on the way.
“He didn’t even know that he was having another baby,” Sanders said.
Sanders told me the feeling of not knowing if she’d ever see an arrest remained a constant for her until Friday when she looked the man in the face who police say killed her son.
Detroit police took Darnell Jerome Franklin Jr.,19, into custody a week ago.
Wayne County prosecutors say Franklin shot and killed Rockette in cold blood. Franklin is now facing multiple charges including first-degree murder.
Sanders says she didn’t know if this day would ever come because there wasn’t much communication with Detroit police in the beginning.
So she along with other mothers who lost a child to gun violence formed the group known as Mothers Keeping Boots on the Ground to make sure their children’s homicide cases weren’t forgotten.
“We banned to stick together and fight,” Sanders said. “And fight for other families, so we can get justice.”
Chief Todd Bettison said Sanders helped with the case.
“She never gave up,” Bettison said. “She relentlessly continued to contact the Detroit Police Department. And she’s advocated for other mothers as well.”
“And so, she was an advocate just involved out there looking for her own tips.”
Bettison also says that the department remains committed to every victims’ case regardless of when it happened.
“We are not going to stop working these cases,” the chief said. “And so our cold case unit, I’ve actually added additional officers. We just don’t close out homicide cases.”
Sanders said she’s grateful for the work put into her sons case and she leaves this advice for other mothers still looking for justice.
“Don’t ever, ever give up,” Sanders said. “You fight for your child… Fight. Be the voice for your child.”
The Detroit Tigers are coming off of an 11-game homestand and are in the middle of a four-game win streak, and they will hope for that to continue as they prepare to face a struggling Houston Astros offense.
In their last five games, the Tigers’ pitching staff has surrendered just seven runs. That has come against two top-15 offenses in the San Diego Padres and the Baltimore Orioles.
The Astros’ offense they are set to take on currently ranks tied for No. 24 in MLB with a team wRC+ of just 87.
Houston does also have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball, but Detroit’s offense will be lucking out since they are missing the two best starting pitchers the Astros have to offer now that the probables for the series are set.
Monday night will be the start of the series in Houston at 8:10 p.m. ET.
The Tigers will be throwing Jack Flaherty with the Astros going with Ronel Blanco.
Flaherty just plays better while with Detroit, and he looks back to the form that he started last year with. He has a 2.63 ERA over five starts with a 1.024 WHIP and 11.2 K/9.
Blanco is known for throwing a no-hitter last season in his first game of the year, but he has been off to a much quieter start during this campaign.
The second game of the series, Tuesday at 8:10 p.m. ET, will see Reese Olson on the mound for Detroit with Ryan Gusto taking the ball for Houston.
Olson is on a red-hot pitching streak with 12.1 scoreless innings over his last two starts. His ERA is down to 3.29 and he is looking as good as he has in his young career.
Gusto is a rookie who is starting out of necessity for the Astros, but he has been very solid with a 3.68 ERA over his three career starts.
The final game of the series will take place on Wednesday at 2:10 p.m. ET.
It will be the rookie sensation Jackson Jobe pitching for the Tigers and most likely Hayden Wesneski doing so for Houston.
Jobe has been solid in his full rookie campaign with a 2.70 ERA, but he will look to hone in his control and start generating some more strikeouts.
Wesneski is in line for the start, but he did have some velocity issues in his last outing that could cause the Astros to rest him.
NEWS
A DDOT bus crash occurred on Detroit’s west side when a maintenance employee, reportedly experiencing a medical emergency, lost control and crashed into an empty apartment building. The incident, which happened near Greenfield and McNichols, involved no passengers and resulted in no injuries to pedestrians. Witnesses described the scene as chaotic, with debris flying, but noted relief that an area usually populated by people was empty at the time.
DETROIT (FOX 2) – A Detroit Department of Transportation bus crashed into an empty apartment building on Saturday evening after the driver had a medical emergency.
The bus was unoccupied other than the driver, a maintenance employee, and the building, which was under renovation, was also unoccupied, according to city officials.
Other than the driver, no one was hurt.
The crash happened on Greenfield near McNicholls.
A Detroit Department of Transportation bus crashed into an empty apartment building on Saturday evening.
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