People v. Todd

Defendants Damion Lavoial Todd, Vernard Carter, and Derrick Tyrone McClure were tried jointly in December of 1986 on charges stemming from an August 17, 1986, drive-by shooting in which Melody Rucker, age sixteen, was killed and Vinita Smith, age fifteen, was seriously injured. Rucker and Smith were among at least a dozen teenagers who were standing in front of a house in Detroit when Todd fired several shotgun blasts from the passenger seat of a car being driven by Carter. Todd was apparently firing toward another male teenager who was standing close to Rucker. The shotgun belonged to…