An Oak Park man has admitted to unleashing gunfire on a Shelby Township mobile home last winter, in a case that easily could have turned deadly.
Keshawn Ali Lamar Webster, 24, pleaded guilty last week to eight felonies tied to a December drive-by that struck a trailer in a Shelby Township mobile home park. He entered the pleas under a Cobbs agreement and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 3. Two people were inside when rounds tore into the unit, but no one was hurt.
Prosecutors say Webster admitted to two counts of assault with intent to murder, one count of discharging a firearm from a vehicle, one count of discharging a firearm into a building, and four counts of felony firearm. Those are the same charges outlined at his arraignment, according to a press release from the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.
As reported by The Detroit News, court records show officers recovered a handgun when Webster was arrested. The outlet also noted that Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido has objected to a two-year maximum included in parts of the Cobbs deal.
Neighbors called police on Dec. 26 after hearing gunfire in the 48000 block of Pineview, near Hamlin and Dequindre roads. Investigators said they found spent shell casings in the area and damage to the mobile home. Authorities later tracked down Webster’s vehicle in the Nine Mile and Jefferson area of St. Clair Shores and arrested him as he walked toward the car, according to reporting by ClickOnDetroit. His earlier arraignment and seven-figure bond in the case were detailed in coverage of the Shelby Township suspect arraigned.
Legal context
Under Michigan practice, a Cobbs evaluation lets a judge give a preliminary take on what the sentence will likely look like, and a defendant can rely on that before deciding to plead guilty. The judge still has the final say at sentencing and must allow the defendant to withdraw the plea if the court later chooses not to follow its earlier assessment, according to guidance from Michigan Courts.
The charging documents list four felony-firearm counts, each carrying a mandatory consecutive two-year term, a detail prosecutors flagged in their public statement. Those firearm sentences must run in addition to, not instead of, any punishment for the underlying crimes.
What's next
Webster is set to return to court for sentencing on Sept. 3. He faces penalties that range from up to 10 years on certain weapons charges to potential life terms on the assault with intent to murder counts, with the felony-firearm terms stacked consecutively, as reported by The Detroit News.
Because prosecutors have objected to portions of the Cobbs agreement, the judge will have to decide whether to honor the proposed sentencing cap or impose a different punishment. If the court rejects the earlier Cobbs assessment and signals a harsher outcome, Webster will have the option to try to withdraw his guilty plea and take his chances going forward.
