The defendant fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend and then
fatally stabbed his 13-month-old daughter.
A jury convicted the defendant of two counts of second-degree murder relating
to his ex-girlfriend and convicted him of first-degree child abuse and
felony-murder (predicated upon first-degree child abuse) relating to his
daughter. The Court of Appeals vacated
one of the defendant’s second-degree murder convictions, but otherwise affirmed
in an unpublished opinion. The Supreme
Court has ordered oral argument on the application to address whether the Legislature intended to elevate to
felony-murder those instances of first-degree child abuse in which the only act
of abuse is the child’s murder. See MCL 750.316(1).