Court Watching: Coskie bound over on charge he shot, killed Eric Williams

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
Accused murderer Kenneth William Coskie of Van Buren Township told police he shot and killed Eric Williams because he was afraid Williams would beat him up again and steal his money.
“I didn’t want to do it, but I was scared,” Coskie, 74, reportedly told VBT police after the shooting on April 9 at 49170 Michigan Avenue where Coskie was living in a camper.
VBT Police Detective Donovan McCarthy, lead officer on the case, testified at length to the details of the murder investigation during Coskie’s preliminary exam July 2 before 34th District Court Chief Judge Tina Brooks Green.
After the hour-long exam, Judge Green bound Coskie over to circuit court for an arraignment on the information at 9 a.m., July 9, at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit.
Judge Green found the prosecution proved there was probable cause that a crime was committed and Coskie was involved.
He is charged with shooting Eric Williams, 44, in the back with his 12-gauge shotgun just before 8 p.m. on April 9 near his home in the Michigan Avenue – Denton Road area.
Coskie is being held in the Wayne County Jail on $1 million bond and the bond was continued. A recent exam determined he was competent to stand trial.
His charges are: first-degree murder and felony firearm. He is considered a habitual offender.
At the beginning of the exam, Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Reynolds read a summary of the autopsy performed April 10 by an assistant Wayne County Coroner.
He said the decedent was a 44-year-old black male with a shotgun wound to the torso. The gun shot damaged the left spleen, left lung, heart, right lung, and right arm. The shot went from back to front and left to right. There was bleeding in the abdomen.
The cause of death was ruled homicide. His body was definitely identified by his mother.
More than 10 family and friends of the victim were in the courtroom. Before the exam started, his girlfriend was asked to leave the courtroom because she may be asked to testify in circuit court.
Det. McCarthy was the fourth witness and he told the story of what he found at the murder scene and what Coskie told him.
He said the call came in to police at 8 p.m. and when he got to the scene, other officers were there.
They found a deceased man with a gunshot wound face down, between the camper and the van covered by a plastic lawn chair and some debris. There was identification in his pocket.
Two shotguns were recovered from the scene. One was a single-shot 12 gauge loaded with a live Winchester 00 (“double-ought”) buck shell. There was a spent shell found at the scene.
The older model, 16 gauge, pump-action shotgun, was placed next to the other on a metal bench, both covered in Liquid Wrench, indicating they had been worked on recently.
Det. McCarthy said at 2 a.m. he returned to the station from the scene and Coskie said he would talk to him. McCarthy said Coskie did not appear intoxicated and there was no smell of alcohol.
After asking if he needed water or a blanket, McCarthy said he read Coskie his Miranda Rights and Coskie signed the form.
Then after talking for 15 to 20 minutes, Coskie wrote his own statement and signed it. Prosecutor Reynolds asked McCarthy to read the hand-written statement and he did.
The statement said on April 3 or 4, he gave Eric Williams $5 for a ride to cash his check and Eric borrowed $15 for his cocaine smoking. He said Eric came back in the morning and broke the window in his camper and beat him on the head with a mag light. Eric made Coskie’s watchdog run away, Coskie wrote.
Coskie said he only had one bullet for his shotguns and Eric was a big person. His dog was gone. He said he didn’t want to be beat up again. He said he shot him once and put a cover and folding chair over him.
Coskie wrote that Eric hollered his name and he turned and, “I shot him.” The only thing in Eric’s hand was a party store bag.
Coskie said that the week before when he got beat up he went to the clinic and told them he fell off his bike. He went to Walmart and bought 00 buck shells and Liquid Wrench.
McCarthy said he asked Coskie if he shot Williams twice and Coskie reportedly told him, he’s “… from the UP and only needed one shot.” He shot him in the back.
Coskie said he covered up the body after the shooting because he didn’t want anyone to see Williams and he wanted to protect himself.
In cross examination, court-appointed defense attorney David Lankford asked about the poor spelling in Coskie’s written statement, questioning whether Williams was reported to be carrying a “nife” or a rifle.
McCarthy reported Coskie said Williams was carrying a knife.
McCarthy said Coskie had fired one round and reloaded the gun.
At the beginning of the exam, the first witness to testify was Eddie Short, 43, Coskie’s stepson, who worked at Willow Creek Market at the corner of Denton and Michigan Avenue in VBT.
Short testified that he knew Williams and Williams had moved into the neighborhood in the winter.
Short testified he was working on April 9 at the party store. He said there is a parking lot between the store and where Coskie lived at 49170 Michigan Ave.
At about 7:45 p.m., Williams was leaving the store. Shortly after Williams left, Short went outside to see if the parking lot lights he manually turned on were working all right.
He said he saw Williams approaching his stepfather’s property and was about 10 feet from the property when he got shot.
“I saw Eric and he was ready to run away from the property and then I heard one gun shot,” Short testified.
He said his stepfather just came up out of nowhere. He said he turned his head a second and then when he looked back it was happening.
He said he said to himself, “Oh, my God. I really can’t believe this happened.”
Short said his stepfather had told him about an incident the previous Saturday in the early morning.
Short said Coskie told him that Williams went over to Coskie’s place and broke a window and possibly robbed him of money. Coskie was hit across the head with a blunt object and he had a scar on his forehead in the picture taken of him after his arrest.
Short said about five minutes after being called the Van Buren Police arrived, which he said was, “a pretty good response time.”
Under cross examination, defense attorney Lankford asked Short to describe Williams. Short said Williams was younger, at 44, than his stepfather, who was 74.
Williams had a large frame and was “a built guy,” Short said. Lankford suggested Williams weighed well over 250 pounds and besides the 30 years age difference, there was a weight difference of 100 pounds and Short agreed.
Lankford asked Short to describe the area where the stepfather lived and he said it had a pickup truck, van, and other things parked together. Lankford asked if Williams bought alcohol in the store and he replied, “I guess.”
Prosecutor Reynolds asked if his stepfather told him he was going to have a surprise for Mr. Williams and he said that was true and he told VBT Det. McCarthy that on May 5.
Short agreed he told Det. McCarthy that he turned the parking lights on and, “Kenny pops out of nowhere and shoots him one time.”
Short said Coskie’s house had been condemned by Van Buren Township and Coskie was staying in the camper.
Lankford asked Short if Coskie told him “I will protect myself” and Short said that was true.
The next witness was Monique Danielle James, who was a customer at Willow Creek Market the night of the shooting. James said she stopped in at the store on her way home and took about 10 minutes deciding what she wanted to get.
When she left to go out to her car, a heavy-set black man was running to where she was coming out of the store.
“I heard noise – shots or firecrackers,” she said. “The man running toward me fell and I went back into the store and … eventually called 911.”
The third witness was Daniel Joseph Ramsey, another customer at the store that night. He said he saw a black male pay for a pint and leave. Shortly thereafter, he heard a pop and said, “What was that? I wasn’t sure.”
He said a woman came back in and said, “I think he just shot at me.”
Ramsey said he looked out in the parking lot and didn’t see anyone. Then he left and walked out to his truck. When he was unlocking the door to his truck, he saw Coskie standing by a camper but didn’t see anyone else. He said he often saw Coskie over in that area.
He said he had been at work for 14 hours and was ready to go home. Later he was contacted by police.