Lionel Vincent found guilty of murdering VBT mother, daughter

A Wayne County Circuit Court jury found Lionel Lamont Vincent, 52, guilty of one count of first-degree, premeditated murder and not guilty of a second count of first-degree murder. Instead, he was found guilty of a second, lesser count of second-degree murder. The jury trial lasted two weeks.
He originally had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He was on trial for stabbing to death a mother and her 14-year-old daughter in Van Buren Township on July 25, 2021. At trial it was revealed there were more than 15 stab wounds on each victim.
Yachanda Snipes, 45, who had dated Vincent, and her daughter Daraca Leatherberry were found dead inside their apartment in the 46000 block of Lake Villa Drive within the Belleville Pointe apartment complex.
The jury verdict was announced on Oct. 31. Sentencing was set for Nov. 24 and then reset for Dec. 11.
Vincent was brought from Lakeland Correctional Facility in Ionia by the Michigan Department of Corrections for his preliminary exam at 34th District Court in June 2022. He was being held on pending charges of violation of probation on a previous charge.
Now retired Van Buren Township Police Detective Mike Long said at the time that Vincent was the suspect from the beginning and the victim was an Uber driver at the time they met. Det. Long said the state held Vincent for possible parole violation because of the VBT police investigation. He was wearing his GPS ankle monitor, required for his parole, at the time of the killings, police said.
According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, Vincent was paroled Sept. 22, 2020 after serving 27 years in prison for an Aug. 25, 1994 kidnapping and rape, using a weapon to commit a felony and various other weapons charges, in Oakland County. He was convicted in a jury trial.