Kalamazoo Man Arrested in Tay Tay Jackson Killing, Police Vow More Arrests Ahead

A 30-year-old man is behind bars and denied bond in connection with the July 11 shooting death of 21-year-old Vontavion Arquice Dajuan Jackson outside a North Westnedge Avenue restaurant in Kalamazoo, and police say he won't be the only one facing charges. Artkelly Jerom Anderson was arrested on an outstanding murder warrant and arraigned before a judge who ordered him held without bond, while investigators continue building a case that they believe involves more than one person.

Jackson, known to family and friends as “Tay Tay,” was a Kalamazoo native and father of two young children, according to WWMT. He was shot just before 3 a.m. on July 11 in the 700 block of North Westnedge Avenue near West North Street, directly outside Chicago Munchies, and later died despite lifesaving efforts, as reported by News Channel 3. Police dispatch records reviewed by WKZO show officers responded to reports of shots fired at 2:51 a.m. and learned en route that Jackson was already being rushed to the hospital in a private vehicle rather than by ambulance.

Arrest Follows Weeks of Investigation

Anderson was taken into custody on August 25 and arraigned the following day before Chief Judge Kathleen P. Hemingway in Kalamazoo County 8th District Court, where bond was formally denied, per the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. Hemingway has served on the district court bench since 2017. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Captain Danielle Guilds said in an agency release that Anderson's arrest marks “the first arrest in this homicide, but it will not be the last,” signaling detectives are still chasing leads on additional suspects.

Investigators anticipate additional arrests as the probe continues, the department's account of the case shows. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety at (269) 337-8139, or reach Kalamazoo Silent Observer at (269) 343-2100 to remain anonymous.

Part of a Wider Pattern of Violence Near Westnedge Avenue

Jackson's killing was not an isolated incident along that stretch of North Westnedge Avenue. KDPS officers had already responded to a non-fatal shooting outside a local business in the same 700 block on April 12, after residents voiced concerns about frequent late-night gunfire in the corridor. Just this month, 30-year-old Angel Marie Curtis was killed in a drive-by shooting on August 22 on the 700 block of Florence Street in Kalamazoo's Northside neighborhood, with police locating the suspect vehicle abandoned on the 1300 block of North Westnedge Avenue, according to a report reviewed on Reddit's r/kzoo. Community members have called for heightened safety interventions in response.

The neighborhood has seen this kind of violence before. In September 2024, a driver was shot and killed near the same North Westnedge Avenue and Florence Street corridor when an SUV was targeted by gunfire around 4:10 a.m., and that victim also attempted to drive to a hospital rather than wait for an ambulance, as Hoodline previously reported.

Crime Statistics Complicate the Picture

The recent violence stands in contrast to citywide numbers. A year-end report released by KDPS in January found that violent crime and property crime citywide reached 10-year lows in 2025, including a 30% drop in homicides compared to 2024, with Chief David Boysen attributing the decline to multi-year prevention strategies. Even so, the cluster of shootings around North Westnedge Avenue and Florence Street this summer shows how localized violence can persist even as broader trends improve.

To solve cases like Jackson's, KDPS leans on specialized units including the Crime Reduction Team and the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team, along with a network of license-plate reader cameras known as Flock cameras that help track suspect vehicles and execute murder warrants. Those automated camera networks have aided identification of vehicles in several recent Kalamazoo shooting investigations, per the department. Whether physical evidence or camera footage directly tied Anderson to the scene has not been disclosed, and the specific motive behind the shooting remains unclear.