Court Watching: Ervin Toliver charged with murder in 2008 Pine Creek shooting

Ervin Altonio Toliver, 41, has been charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office with homicide, possession of weapon by a felon, and another weapons charge, for the murder of a teen in 2008 in Van Buren Township.
VBT Police Lt. Louis Keele said Toliver has just completed a ten-year sentence on gun charges in a federal penitentiary.
Lt. Keele said VBT got the warrants for him in 2011 and waited for him to get done with his federal sentence to prosecute these charges.
Toliver was brought to the 34th District Court lockup on May 22 to go before Magistrate Lisa Martin for his probable cause conference, but after several hours of waiting for his retained attorney of record, Raymond Burkett, the court session was adjourned until June 5.
Magistrate Martin said it was learned the defense attorney had been suddenly hospitalized and wouldn’t be coming.
Early in the morning on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008, Kenneth Jackson, 17, of Ypsilanti was shot in the neck in the parking lot of Pine Creek Golf Course on West Huron River Drive. Then he was put into a Dodge Neon and taken to the Speedway gas station at Rawsonville and Grove roads where he was abandoned in the back seat of the car.
At about 1:47 a.m., VBT police responded to the Speedway station. About the same time, employees at Pine Creek Golf course called police to report gun shots being fired in their parking lot.
Police from VBT and Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department found a male juvenile in the back seat of the Neon with no other occupants or witnesses at the scene.
Jackson was transported to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, where he was treated and later pronounced dead.
As the case unfolded, police learned the shots fired at Pine Creek and the shooting victim at Speedway were related.
Witnesses at Pine Creek reported a verbal/physical altercation had taken place between individuals and then several shots were fired in the parking lot. Seven shell casing from a 9mm handgun were confiscated by police and sent to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab.
VBT Public Safety Director Greg Laurain, who was a captain at the time, said one witness told police that some of the people involved left the golf course parking lot in a red Dodge Neon and turned toward Rawsonville Road on West Huron River Drive, driving away at a high rate of speed.
Accounts from witnesses at Pine Creek and Speedway said there were numerous others that were there at both locations who may be friends of the victim and they fled the scenes before police arrived.
Captain Laurain said officers were on the case non-stop and were frustrated by people being reluctant to give information.
“We are shaking doors in Ypsilanti and West Willow neighborhoods with the Washtenaw County Sheriffs and nobody’s seen nothing,” Laurain said.
He said police could not understand why information was being withheld, asking, “Why does nobody want justice?” He said police believed they knew the identity of the shooter, but needed a witness to speak up.
Laurain said the Neon was registered to a female who told police she lent it out to someone for a week and he said he would bring it back. She told police she only knew his street name.
The evening at Pine Creek began with a birthday party for a person turning 40, with about 20 or 30 guests. The bartender told police everything was going fine until others showed up and too many people were in the restaurant, so entry had to be limited.
Harsh, loud words were spoken inside the restaurant and the dispute was taken outside, Laurain said. There were up to 100 people in the parking lot. Witnesses said the victim and two others were arguing with two others and then a gun was produced and fired.
Witnesses said they heard gunshots from another weapon, as well, but no other shell casings were found.
Carl Wayne Boone
Carl Wayne Boone, 47, waived his preliminary exam before Chief Judge Tina Brooks Green on May 22 on charges of operating while intoxicated-3rd, driving while license suspended, and driving with open intoxicant in the vehicle on May 4 in Sumpter Township. He is due at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice on June 5 for an arraignment on the information. Boone is free after posting bond of $5,000/10%. His court-appointed attorney is William Courtright.
Michael Regis Colasanti
The probable cause conference for Michael Regis Colasanti, 38, on charges of fleeing police in a vehicle-4th degree and operating while intoxicated-2nd on March 11, 2018 in Sumpter Township was adjourned until June 26. He is free after posting bond of $5,000/10%. His retained attorney is Vincent Haisha.
Michael David McDaniel
Michael David McDaniel, 40, has demanded his preliminary exam on June 5 on a charge of ethnic intimidation in Van Buren Township on April 14. He is free after posting bond of $3,000/10%. He is being defended by a court-appointed attorney.