Court Watching: Texas man bound over in VBT shooting death of semi-truck driver

After an hour-long preliminary exam on July 24, 34th District Court Judge Tina Brooks Green found there was probable cause to bind over long-distance truck driver Mark Anthony Shaw, 39, of Missouri City, TX to circuit court on a charge of shooting another long-distance truck driver from California in a Van Buren Township alley on June 28.
His arraignment on the information was set for July 31 at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit. He is charged with first-degree murder and felony firearm in the death of Stafford Segree, 47, of Van Nuys, CA.
Before the exam began, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Ryan Elsey submitted the report by Assistant Wayne County Medical Examiner Dr. Nicole Croon on the June 30 autopsy. She reported Segree’s entrance and exit wounds were on his neck with stippling around the wound. Death was cause by a gunshot wound to the neck and manner of death was homicide.
Judge Green and defense attorney Christopher Quinn stipulated the written report could be entered for the exam only.
There were to be three witnesses, but the prosecution decided there was no need for the owner of the trucking company to be flown in from California to testify and his affidavit was enough.
First witness was Van Buren Township Police Sgt. Ryan McCormick who testified he had been with the department for 17 years. He said he was dispatched to a call just before 1 p.m. on June 29 to check on a semi truck with broken windows parked in the alley at 10850 Belleville Rd.
He described the area as a shopping plaza with a mix of businesses on the west side of Belleville Road. He said there was a parking lot in front and dumpsters behind with a semi truck and truck just to the north.
He said he noticed glass on the ground on the passenger side windows, which were not intact. The windows were broken on both the passenger and driver’s side.
“I saw an individual leaning over to the right on the driver’s side. I was able to unlock the passenger door and he appeared to be deceased,” Sgt. McCormick testified. He said there was an amount of blood on the man’s chest and shirt and on the floor as well.
He was able to get identification for the driver. He also found a shell casing on the ground on the driver’s side of the truck.
Prosecutor Elsey displayed body camera pictures of the truck, the shell casing, and the body in the truck upon arrival as exhibits 2, 3, and 4.
Sgt. McCormick said the sign on the truck was BLVD Moving and he used the DOT number on the tractor. He said he made contact with the company’s owner, David Finbres in California. Finbres was able to provide video from when the truck was parked through the camera facing outward on the top of the windshield of the truck.
Sgt. McCormick testified that the owner provided access to his system, which is cloud-based, and McCormick and the prosecutor could log in with a password. There were 59 individual video files between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. on June 28.
Prosecutor Elsey asked Judge Green if it was all right to show 12 minutes of videos in one-minute sections and he was given permission. The clips he showed started at 9:42 p.m. and showed the truck pulling up behind another truck. The license plate of the other truck was visible.
At 9:44 a person came from the other truck and walked to the driver’s side window. At 9:46 he ran to his truck and then came back. At 9:46 he walks back to his truck and at 9:48 he walks back slowly to the driver’s side. At 9:49, he walks back to his truck and a hand brushes his face. At 9:50 his truck drives away. At 10:18, the truck drives up on the right of the victim’s truck. The man runs from the left of the camera down the alley and at 10:22 walks back from the alley to the driver’s side of the victim’s truck. At 10:24, he walked back down the alley and put something in a dumpster.
Sgt. McCormick said they found a towel in the dumpster. Video was also shown from 10:25 and 10:26 p.m.
Sgt. McCormick said after he obtained the video, police detained a truck with driver parked in gas station at Belleville Road and Michigan Avenue, from 2.5 to 3 miles away. It was after 3:30 p.m. on June 29. The license plate on the truck was the same as that in the video, Sgt. McCormick said.
Sgt. McCormick identified the defendant in the courtroom as being the person who stepped down from the driver’s seat of that truck at the gas station.
He said the driver appeared to be wearing the same attire as the driver in the video. When he was cross-examined by attorney Quinn, McCormick said, “I didn’t say it was him. He had on the same clothes as in the video the night before.”
Quinn asked if there was blood on his clothes and McCormick said he didn’t know.
Quinn also asked about the picture of a VBT police car that was in the alley at about 9 or 10 p.m. and McCormick said the night shift starts at 1800.
“I would like to know who’s in the car,” Quinn said.
McCormick said at 9:48 p.m. the vehicle left and, “I don’t know who’s driving but he was seen on the truck’s camera as leaving.” He said he would find out the driver for the defense counsel.
Quinn asked about whether a gun was recovered from the defendant’s truck and he said he believed there was but he didn’t have information.
The second witness was Van Buren Township Detective Mike Long who testified he had been with the department for just over 20 years and had worked on four homicides in the last six years.
He said “stippling” is made by a close-range gunshot and is like tattooing. He said the gun was held too close.
Det. Long testified the casing found was 9mm and the gun found in the truck with the defendant was a 9mm Glock. Pictures showed what was found in the truck, besides the gun, and there were slides or sandals and Shaw had them on when he left his vehicle while being arrested. One fell off his foot. There also was a phone cord with an adapter that was plugged in between the sleeping area and the front.
Quinn asked if the defendant’s gun matched the shell casing and Det. Long said he didn’t know. He said they are waiting for a report from the Michigan State Police Crime Lab and sometimes it takes 3-4 months to get a report. He said a gun also was found in the victim’s truck and it also was 9 mm. That gun also is with the MSP for a report.
Prosecutor Elsey then asked the judge to bind the defendant over to circuit court for trial. He said the gunshot was front to back and down to up, consistent with the victim being shot from the window. He said there was a heated discussion and interaction shown by the video clips.
He said at 10:18 p.m. the video showed the defendant running toward the truck and clutching something on the right side of his body. He ran back and returned with a pair of black gloves and began rummaging in the truck. He deposited a towel in the dumpster and walked away with a white phone charger. He said the video clips had shown a reflection on the front window of the defendant on the phone.
Quinn argued not to bind over. He said the case was brought too prematurely because they don’t have ballistics reports and whether the defendant’s gun was ever shot. He said it could be refiled later once they have the information. He said they don’t know who shot what. Quinn said there is no DNA evidence.
The defense attorney said they say the defendant had the same clothes on but there was no blood. There was a large amount of blood on the alleged victim, he said. Quinn said the prosecutor has not met the goal of probable cause to bind over.
However, Judge Green ruled there was probable cause to believe the defendant may have committed the crime and she bound Shaw over to circuit court.
Shaw is remanded to custody, so no bond has been set and he remains in the Wayne County Jail.