Detroit man sentenced in killings of 4 women, 2 sex assaults

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit man was sentenced to at least 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to murdering four women whose bodies were found in vacant houses and to sexually assaulting two other women.

A Wayne County Circuit Court judge sentenced Deangelo Martin, 37, on Thursday to 45 to 70 years behind bars. He had pleaded guilty in the killings and assaults in September, days before he was scheduled to stand trial.

Martin pleaded guilty to the murders of Annetta Nelson, 57; Nancy Harrison, 52; Trevesene Ellis, 55; and Tamara Jones, 55. Their bodies were found in vacant houses on Detroit’s east side between February and June 2019.

Medical examiners found that Nelson and Harrison died of blunt force trauma but the bodies of Ellis and Jones were too badly decomposed to determine how they died.

At the time, authorities characterized the slayings as the work of a serial killer and said they believed all of the women were sex workers.

“The women Deangelo Martin violently killed all had families that loved them dearly. Hopefully, they will find some peace knowing that he will be in the Michigan Department of Corrections and off the streets,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement.

Martin also pleaded guilty to stabbing and sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman in May 2019 and kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 51-year-old woman in June 2019.