DETROIT (AP) — A man who police say fatally shot two
officers during a traffic stop was charged yesterday with
murder.
An innocent plea was entered on behalf of Eric Marshall during
his afternoon arraignment on two counts of first-degree murder, two
counts of felony murder and one count of felony firearm in the
deaths of Officers Jennifer Fettig and Matthew Bowens.
Marshall, 23, faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison
without parole if convicted. A preliminary exam is scheduled for
March 1.
Fettig and Bowens were shot about 2 a.m. Monday. Bowens, 21, was
pronounced dead on arrival at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Fettig, 26, was placed on life support. She died at 2:31 p.m.,
after a police helicopter had flown her family from Petoskey to
Detroit.
Yesterday, Marshall kept his head down as he was led into the
courtroom at the 36th District Court. He fell to his knees as the
charges were read and had to be pulled up by the officers holding
him.
Magistrate Margaret Baylor asked him if he understood the
charges. He answered affirmatively.
Outside the courthouse, Bowens’ father, James, called
Marshall a “coward.”
“He killed my son in an ambush. He doesn’t deserve
to live,” the 56-year-old Lincoln Park resident said.
He called for legislation requiring that anyone accused of
killing a police officer be charged under federal law so that they
can face the death penalty in any state.
James Bowens said Matthew, who was the youngest of four sons and
lived with his parents, had always dreamed of being a police
officer.
“He died trying to help his partner,” he said.
“He was chasing the guy while he was bleeding.”
Police used the suspect’s identification, found in the
police cruiser, to arrest Marshall later Monday.
Fettig and Bowens are the 18th and 19th Detroit officers killed
in the line of duty since 1990.
The last time two officers died on the same day was in August
1995 in a traffic accident.