Love Triangle Probed In Detroit Church Shooting
DETROIT — A man who police say attacked a pastor with a brick at a church service before the pastor whipped out his Glock handgun and fatally fired back, ranted weeks before on Facebook that his pastor had gotten his wife pregnant.
Two Detroit police sources said detectives were investigating a possible love triable between the man who died, his wife and their pastor.
The couple had previously lived with the pastor, whom the victim considered a mentor and called dad, his sister, Deja Ward, said in an interview.
“He never brought beef to anybody,” Ward said of her brother. “He wanted closure so he could start counseling. I guess it turned a whole other way.”
On Sept. 16, Smith, 26, of Detroit wrote he planned to attend the church. “Can’t wait to see Sunday message at the City of God Ministry,” he wrote. “I’ll be there with the truth.”
Later that day, Smith wrote: “This (expletive) gonna hit the fan.”
In a Sept. 15 post, Smith wrote: “That wasn’t my baby that was (his wife) and pastor(’s) baby.” That preceded a Sept. 18 rant: “This (expletive) got my (expletive) pregnant. Tick tock (expletive) and everybody with you.”
Smith posted several times in the weeks leading up to his death about the pain he was feeling about the alleged affair. On Oct. 8, he wrote: “I’m hurting, yall.”
Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt said police believe Smith was shot about 15 minutes after the start of the 1:30 p.m. Sunday service at the storefront church.
The pastor was not arrested and is cooperating with authorities, Officer Jennifer Moreno said Monday.
“He was never in custody,” Moreno said Monday. “He was just brought downtown (on Sunday) for questioning regarding the incident. He stayed a couple hours, cooperated fully and went home.”
After questioning the pastor, police will submit a warrant request to prosecutors, who will decide whether the shooting was justified.
“We’re not sure at this point whether the man had mental problems or what,” Dolunt said of Smith. “It’s still under investigation.”
Source: The Detroit News