'You killed me and my whole family,' woman tells brother accused of killing her husband at Saginaw library

SAGINAW, MI – A Saginaw woman sitting on a witness stand looked away as video footage was played showing her husband being shot in the parking lot of a downtown library. As her husband tried to crawl away despite already having several bullets in his body, the gunman walked up to him, aimed his pistol and fired again.

Adding to the widow's grief is the identity of the alleged perpetrator – her older brother Derrick J. Grant. The family tragedy is compounded by the absurdity of what led to the shooting, allegedly a dispute over a rented storage shed.

Grant, 37, is charged with open murder and felony firearm in connection with the Sept. 10 death of his brother-in-law, Henry J. Ford, 38. He appeared alongside attorney James F. Gust for a preliminary hearing Oct. 3 before Saginaw County District Judge Elian EH Fichtner.

Ford's widow, Sherika Ford, testified that she had been married to her husband for 13 years, although they had been together for 18 years. Henry Ford and Grant had known each other since they attended middle school together and had gotten along until recently, when tensions arose between them, Sherika Ford said.

In September, she, her husband, brother and father were living together in Saginaw. Her husband rented a storage shed where Grant stored some property, the witness testified. At some point, Grant had also sold her husband a 9mm handgun, but Grant later called police and falsely accused his brother-in-law of stealing the gun, Sherika Ford testified.

On Sept. 10, Henry Ford was working as a security guard at the Hoyt Library, 505 Janes Ave., while his wife and brother-in-law were at home arguing about the storage shed. In a telephone conversation, Henry Ford told Grant that he had access to the shed on his day off. However, Grant didn't like this.

“He was very upset,” Sherika Ford said. “He wanted his things right away.”

Grant grabbed the keys to his sister's red 2008 Ford Explorer and drove off. Shortly afterwards, Sherika Ford was on the phone with her husband when she heard that there was an argument between the brothers-in-law.

“The next thing I know, my husband says, 'He's already here,'” she testified. “I heard my husband say, 'Don't approach me, don't approach me.' The next thing I heard was gunshots and my husband said he was shot by my brother.”

Sherika Ford hung up and called 911, she said. A few minutes later, her brother arrived back home and quickly pulled the SUV into the driveway. Sherika Ford gathered her children and fled in the Explorer, then waved at a nearby police officer, she said.

Saginaw County Chief Deputy District Attorney Blair N. Stevenson then played video footage captured by surveillance cameras at the Hoyt Library. He warned his witness about the graphic content, causing her to look away.

The silent footage showed Ford using his cellphone and standing next to his silver Dodge Nitro in the library parking lot. Grant walked towards Ford and after a few moments ran towards him and started swinging his fists. Ford stepped back toward Grant, who pulled out a pistol and fired several shots.

Ford fell to the sidewalk and crawled away, raising an arm defensively. Grant walked toward him, fired one final shot, and then fled.

At this point, Sherika Ford's emotions overwhelmed her.

“Why would someone do something like that?” she said to her brother. “It's ridiculous. How have you ruined our lives? Storage? Overstorage? This is crazy, this is crazy. You killed me and my entire family.”

Judge Fichtner asked the witness to refrain from outbursts.

“When you take someone's life, you can't take it back,” Sherika Ford said before Stevenson continued her questioning.

During cross-examination, Gust asked the witness if her brother ever mentioned that Henry Ford had threatened to “put him in the ground.” She replied that her brother had once told her that Henry Ford had threatened him with the gun he had sold him, although she didn't place much stock in it.

“My husband is a very peaceful man,” she said. “He doesn’t threaten people.”

However, her husband told Grant that he would have to remove his property from the storage unit if he did not withdraw his accusation of stealing a gun from him, Sherika Ford said. She also said that her brother appeared to be having mild mental health issues at the time had.

Earlier in the hearing, Saginaw police Detective Brandon Jebb testified that he went to the crime scene on Sept. 10 at about 5:45 p.m. By this time, Henry Ford had been taken to an area hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.

Jebb said he saw a pool of blood near Ford's Nitro surrounded by six spent .40-caliber shell casings. Police searched the Nitro and found no weapons inside, Jebb said.

An undercover police officer, whose name the court was not authorized to release to MLive, said he was in the area at the time of the shooting and went to the scene to help. Within three minutes, dispatchers had sent a description of the suspect vehicle and Grant's name.

The officer and two colleagues went to Grant's home and arrested him without issue. Grant had a .40-caliber Glock holster on his right hip, the officer said.

When he read his Miranda rights, Grant chose to remain silent, Jebb said. But after invoking his Fifth Amendment right, Grant spontaneously said, “It was self-defense. That’s all I’m going to say,” Jebb said.

The hearing ended with Stevenson asking Judge Fichtner to transfer Grant's case to the district court for trial. The judge obliged, ordering Grant to remain in jail without bail.