An appeals court on Thursday threw out the convictions of a Fraser-area man in the 2021 bathtub drowning of 6-year-old Terrance "Terry" Adams, wiping away manslaughter and first-degree child-abuse verdicts and ordering a new trial. The three-judge panel concluded that a recorded police interview with Hunter Locke-Hughes was obtained without proper Miranda warnings and should have been suppressed. Locke-Hughes remains in custody while judges and lawyers sort out the next steps in the case.
As reported by Macomb Daily, detectives questioned Locke-Hughes for 1 hour and 11 minutes, and he began making key admissions about 25 minutes into the interview. The opinion recounts that he told investigators he pressed the child's shoulders and held him in the water for 30 to 45 seconds, later adding that it couldn't have been longer than 45 seconds. The appeals court, pointing to the Miranda issue, vacated both the manslaughter and first-degree child-abuse convictions and sent the case back for a new trial.
Court timeline and panel
The appeal was argued on June 2 in Detroit before a three-judge panel, according to the Michigan Court of Appeals June case-call schedule. That schedule lists Judges Adrienne N. Young, Stephen L. Borrello and Christopher M. Trebilcock as the panel assigned to the case, and it confirms the case number and oral-argument date as part of the court's June session.
Trial background
Locke-Hughes was convicted in early 2024 in connection with the Dec. 28, 2021 death of Terrance "Terry" Adams and was sentenced the following March. Prosecutors had publicly criticized the punishment as too lenient. FOX 2 Detroit reported the original convictions and the prosecutor's vow to appeal the sentence.
Legal implications
Defense attorneys argued that Locke-Hughes' statements to police should have been kept out of the trial because he was not read his Miranda rights. The appeals panel agreed, finding that the interview was improperly admitted and that the error affected the convictions. Macomb Daily notes that prosecutors also relied on autopsy findings describing multiple bruises on the child's head and shoulders, evidence the office has said supported the jury's verdicts.
What comes next
With the convictions now vacated, the case returns to Macomb County Circuit Court, where prosecutors must decide whether to retry the charges or seek further review. Court docket records and prior orders, including filings listed on Justia, show the appeal has been active since late 2024 and that the matter will now move back through the trial-court calendar. The family's search for finality continues as both sides weigh their legal options.
