Two men are accused of holding employees at gunpoint during a Sept. 29 robbery at a Wingstop in Canton Township. The investigation drew on several kinds of evidence, including GPS tether records, vehicle-camera data and items recovered nearby. Martell Laron Franklin, 33, and Devonte Jaier Ross, 32, face federal robbery and firearm charges, but neither has been convicted. ClickOnDetroit’s account of the case says police were called to the restaurant shortly after 1:40 a.m.; investigators allege Ross threatened employees with a gun while Franklin took a bag from a storage area.
Location data was one part of the case
According to the report, Michigan Department of Corrections staff searched tether records using the restaurant’s address and found Franklin as the only match. That information placed the person wearing his monitor near the scene; by itself, a location record does not establish what that person did there. The report says investigators also compared Franklin’s tether data with records for a silver Buick registered to his brother. Automated license-plate-reader data reportedly tracked the Buick’s movements, and gas-station video showed it at a stop along the route. Detroit Edge transitional-housing employees identified Ross as the person in that video, the report says.
Investigators also reportedly recovered a hat and sweatshirt in a wooded area near the restaurant, along with gloves and face coverings, and found bank envelopes containing Wingstop receipts in another area where Franklin’s tether data placed him. Those reported findings add context to the investigation, but their significance—and how the evidence will be tested—remains for the legal process.
Michigan’s monitoring mandate has specific criteria
Michigan’s lifetime electronic-monitoring statute is not a blanket rule for every sex-offense conviction. It applies to people convicted under MCL 750.520b or 750.520c for criminal sexual conduct committed by someone 17 or older against a person under 13, according to the Michigan Legislature. ClickOnDetroit reports that Franklin was wearing a lifetime tether after a prior sexual-assault conviction, but its account does not specify the conviction provision or underlying circumstances needed to determine how that statute applies to him.
As separate workplace-safety context, Michigan’s MIOSHA guidance for restaurant and fast-food workers says not to resist during an attempted robbery. The City of Taylor Police Department’s robbery-prevention guidance also recommends prioritizing employee security training. These are general recommendations, not accounts of what Wingstop employees did during this incident.
ClickOnDetroit reported that a federal complaint was filed Oct. 2 and that detention hearings for Franklin and Ross were scheduled for Oct. 7 in Detroit. The allegations remain pending.
