Detroit, MI

Mother of Detroit man accused of beating father to death says he’s autistic

Published

8 months ago

March 28, 2025

Mother of Detroit man accused of beating father to death says he’s autistic

A judge continued the $500,000 bond for a 23-year-old man accused of beating his father to death last weekend at their east Detroit home, court records said.

Le Mar Manassa Jr. was charged Tuesday in 36th District Court with manslaughter, according to records and Detroit police.

A bond re-determination hearing was held Thursday.

The defendant is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday for a probable cause conference.

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Court records said Manassa is represented by the Neighborhood Defender Service in Detroit. The judge appointed an attorney to represent the defendant during the bond re-determination hearing, according to the records.

On Friday, Percilla Poole, Manassa’s mother, told The Detroit News she doesn’t know who her son’s lawyer is at the moment. Poole said she is looking to get an attorney for him and has not been able to speak to her son since he was arrested.

She also said her son is autistic and the incident in which he is accused is shocking.

“It’s unbelievable,” Poole, 53, said in a telephone interview. “It’s hard to go through. I can’t sleep at night, and I can barely eat. This whole thing is very hard on my family and me. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

On Tuesday, Detroit police said officers were dispatched at about 7:24 p.m. Saturday to a home in the 5700 block of University Place near Chandler Park Drive and Cadiuex Road.

They entered the home and found Le Mar Manassa Sr., 53, wounded in the kitchen, authorities said.

Medics arrived and pronounced him dead.

According to a preliminary investigation, Manassa and his son had an argument that escalated to a fight. Detectives said the younger man punched his father multiple times in the head.

Poole said she wasn’t at home when the incident happened and nothing like this has ever unfolded with her son before.

“He’s not a violent person,” she said. “He’s very quiet, and he keeps to himself. He’s never showed any signs that something like this could happen.”

She said her son loves football and doesn’t talk much.

“He’s 23 years old, but he has the mindset of a 9-year-old,” she said. “He still plays with action figures.”

Poole told police officers her son was autistic the night he was arrested. She said Friday that her son, who was born prematurely, had been in special education programs since pre-school.

“He’s been like this since he was born,” Poole said.

cramirez@detroitnews.com

@CharlesERamirez

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Detroit, MI

Detroit schools among 68 in Michigan released from state oversight

Published

11 hours ago

November 20, 2025

Press Room

Detroit schools among 68 in Michigan released from state oversight

(FOX 2) – More than 60 Michigan schools will be released from state oversight after meeting graduation and performance-based benchmarks set by the education department.

Included in the list of 68 schools that no longer need help from the state are 24 Detroit schools, according to a news release from the Michigan Department of Education.

Big picture view:

Schools in Detroit, Warren, Melvindale, Oak Park, Highland Park, and Madison Heights make up just some of the Southeast Michigan school districts no longer in need of oversight and support from the state.

The release from state monitoring includes 23 schools under the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Another six Detroit schools will also no longer be identified for specialized targeted support.

In total, there are 68 schools that will be released from oversight. There are still 113 schools that will fall under the umbrella for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI).

Michigan Oversight Eligibility

Schools are identified as needing Comprehensive Support and Improvement when they meet one of the following criteria:

The school is in the bottom 5% of schools in Michigan
Is a high school with a four-year graduation rate of 67% or less
The school was in a CSI cohort but did not meet CSI exit criteria
The school was in an ATS cohort but did not meet ATS exit criteria and so supports are elevated to CSI

There is another category for state support called Targeted Support and Improvement. The eligibility criteria for that program includes:

Schools having at least one student group (such as a racial group, economically disadvantaged students, or students with disabilities) performing in the bottom 25% of each of the school’s components on the Michigan School Index.
Identified annually

The backstory:

Schools are determined to need state support through the Michigan School Index, which is a requirement from the federal government that states maintain some sort of school accountability system.

The program is used to identify schools that are in need of additional support to help students perform better. Academic outcomes, attendance, and graduation rates are some of the parameters the state measures for signs of improvement.

Schools may leave the state program if they no longer meet the criteria that made them eligible in the first place, like math and English proficiency over two years.

Catching up:

According to the 2023-24 results, there were slight gains among Michigan’s schools.

Of the 3,324 public schools in Michigan, 113 were identified for state support – about 3.4% of all schools in the state. That includes 57 districts entering partnership agreements with MDE, which means they will get specialized support.

“I am very pleased to see that 68 schools—including 33 out of 98 schools that were in partnership agreements with MDE—no longer require additional supports from the department because of the hard work by local district and intermediate school district staff, children, parents, community members and MDE employees,” said Interim State Superintendent Dr. Sue C. Carnell.

Schools no longer under oversight

There are 68 schools that will no longer use the CSI program for state help:

Academy for Business and Technology High School, Melvindale
Academy of Warren
Barack Obama Leadership Academy, Detroit
Beecher High School (Beecher Community School District)
Fair Plain East Elementary School (Benton Harbor Area Schools)
Buchanan Virtual Academy (Buchanan Community Schools)
Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Detroit Leadership Academy K-8 (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Ann Arbor Trail Magnet School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Blackwell Institute (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Bunche Preparatory Academy (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Burns Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Carver STEM Academy (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Central High School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Cooke STEM Academy (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Davis Aerospace Technical High School at Golightly (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Garvey Academy (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Henderson Academy (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Mackenzie Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Marquette Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Noble Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Nolan Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Palmer Park Preparatory Academy (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Priest Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Pulaski Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Wayne Elementary School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Oak Park Service Learning Academy
Pleasantview Elementary School (East Pointe Community Schools)
FlexTech High School, Brighton
Eisenhower School (Flint Community Schools)
George Washington Carver Elementary School, Highland Park
Ottawa Hills High School (Grand Rapids Public Schools)
Dickinson West Elementary School (Hamtramck Public Schools)
International Academy of Flint
John R. Lewis Elementary School (Jackson Public Schools)
Joy Preparatory Academy, Detroit
Washington Writers’ Academy (Kalamazoo Public Schools)
KEYS Grace Academy, Madison Heights
Gardner International Magnet School (Lansing School District)
Lyons School (Lansing School District)
Mt. Hope School (Lansing School District)
Wexford Montessori Academy (Lansing School District)
Mildred C. Wells Academy, Benton Harbor
Multicultural Academy, Ann Arbor
Oakland FlexTech High School, Farmington Hills
Woodrow Wilson Elementary School (Port Huron Area School District)
Saginaw Preparatory Academy
Arthur Eddy Academy (Saginaw Public Schools)
Jessie Loomis School (Saginaw Public Schools)
Westfield Preparatory High School, Redford

There are also schools that will exit additional targeted support:

Burton Glen Charter Academy
Bow Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Detroit International Academy for Young Women (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Munger Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Spain Elementary-Middle School (Detroit Public Schools Community District)
Dove Academy of Detroit
Hamilton Virtual School (Hamilton Community Schools)
Tyrone Elementary School (Harper Woods School District)
Holt Junior High School (Holt Public Schools)
Michigan Collegiate Middle/High School, Roseville
New Paradigm College Prep, Detroit
Parchment Middle School (Parchment School District)
Beech Elementary School (Redford Union Schools)
Grogan Elementary School (Southgate Community Schools)
Clarence Randall Elementary School (Taylor School District)

The Source: A news release from the Michigan Department of Education.

EducationMichigan

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Detroit, MI

Thompson: Detroit Riverfront Conservancy leadership has a lot to prove

Published

1 day ago

November 19, 2025

Press Room

Thompson: Detroit Riverfront Conservancy leadership has a lot to prove

Recent revelations that the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, which has been one of the city’s premier jewels, is making major changes, after a massive corruption scandal that took its former chief financial officer William Smith to jail for embezzling $44.3 million is good news.

The internal financial controls the conservancy is putting in place, including periodic independent audits, is necessary, considering this public body has been the recipient of millions of dollars in taxpayer money as well as private funding over the years.

No one should provide an excuse for how the conservancy was running its finances under Smith. Yes, Smith was the culprit but the blame should also be placed on everyone who had collective and overall fiduciary responsibility of the organization. The nonprofit should recognize they dropped the ball as a whole and then move forward in a way that instills public trust so it continues to draw support to beautify the riverfront.

The reduction of its board seat to 30 members from 50 is a good sign. Organizations with that many board members sometimes are bogged down in unnecessary bureaucracy which slows swift decision-making and can lead to less engagement from those who oversee the agency. Some members may feel sidelined because the major decisions often are made by an executive committee.

In the wake of the riverfront conservancy scandal, some board members reached out to me privately about their own take of events that led to how they believed Smith was running a fraudulent scheme that siphoned millions of dollars, the largest in the region’s history of public corruption scandals.

For example, one particular board member during a Saturday breakfast meeting told me he was actually not surprised about what happened with Smith because some of them were hardly engaged with the internal activities, especially the financial direction of the group. It was known to most members that only a few people were running the conservancy and that some board members felt like their role was simply ceremonial.

It looked good on a professional resume to be a member of the board of directors of the conservancy. Some of the individuals who were chosen for the board reveled only in the association instead of the responsibilities that came with the title. They knew that being on the board gave them some social capital and allowed them to be in the company of some of the region’s most influential individuals.

The group must also rethink how it selects board members as well. Simply choosing who has a bigger title in this town should no longer be the qualifier. It should be made up individuals with a deep and profound commitment to the concept and mission of making the riverfront one of the best in the nation.

The new leadership of the conservancy under CEO Ryan Sullivan has a lot to prove over the next couple of years beyond the issuance of press releases that promise strong changes and a new direction. People want to see that change is not only promised but is self-evident and that this much celebrated institution will continue to serve Detroiters and the region.

The financial scandal was not only a black eye on the organization itself, but also the city. Organizations like the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy must be exemplary in their conduct and this corruption saga must never happen again.

X (formerly Twitter): @BankoleDetNews

bankole@bankolethompson.com

Bankole Thompson’s columns appear on Mondays and Thursdays in The Detroit News.

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Detroit, MI

Tensions rise as anti-Islam protestors clash with Muslim community activists in Dearborn

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

Press Room

Tensions rise as anti-Islam protestors clash with Muslim community activists in Dearborn

Heath Kalb

November 19, 2025 / 12:21 AM EST
/ CBS Detroit

Anti-Islam demonstrators clashed with counter-protestors on Tuesday in Dearborn as a group of a few dozen marched toward city hall, shouting Islamophobic rhetoric.

“How are they coming to us and saying we’re all about division and all about Sharia Law. They’re coming here and giving us nothing but hatred,” said Ali Aljahmi, from Dearborn.

CBS News Detroit was at the scene along Michigan Avenue, where the dueling demonstrations stemmed from when Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Anthony Hudson falsely claimed that there was Sharia Law in Dearborn. He later walked back those statements.

“If we’re going to bring these people together, then we’re going to lead by example and come down here, put boots on the ground and walk with these people and show that we can come together,” Hudson told CBS Detroit.

Hudson led a march with supporters of his advocating for his slogan ‘Fix Michigan,” but it was another group of demonstrators, not condoned by Hudson, on that same route that stirred the pot.” Other people in the crowd included Jake Lang, a Republican who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida. Lang was charged with assaulting an officer, civil disorder and other crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 riot before he was pardoned by President Trump.

CBS News Detroit was at the scene when Lang threatened to burn a Quran and taunt counter-protestors with bacon.

Dearborn police kept an eye on the protests and urged people to engage with demonstrators. One person was seen being led away in handcuffs. It’s unknown if that person will face charges.

Some protestors said they hope what happened on Tuesday sheds some light on what they call hateful demonstrations from people outside of Dearborn who are mischaracterizing the city.

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