2 to stand trial in Detroit boy's shooting death

Jakari Pearson died July 30 when bullet penetrated bedroom wall

DETROIT – A man and teenager were bound over Thursday to stand trial in the death of an 8-year-old boy who was shot while sleeping in his Detroit home.

Calvin Mosby, 28, and Devaunte Starks, 17, were both charged with first-degree murder  in the July 30 slaying of Jakari Pearson. The bullet that hit him in the chest went through a wall at the Brewster Homes public housing project.

However, after hearing from several witnesses, Judge Kenneth King ordered Mosby to stand trial on the murder charge but dismissed the same charge for Starks.

Starks was instead bound over on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, being an accessory to a crime and second-degree home invasion.

Prosecutors have described Pearson's death as a retaliatory shooting.

Pearson's mother, Samona Cochran, told the court she had dated Mosby in the past and confronted him the day before the shooting about a break-in at her house. She said she thought he might have been responsible. Cochran said Mosby left her angry voice mails throughout the day. 

She said she put her son to bed and was jolted awake a few hours later by him crying.

"I ran instantly because it was a cry I had never heard before," she said. "I flipped him over and there was a hole in his chest."

He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Several neighbors who lived in the same complex as Pearson and his mother testified that they heard Mosby saying he was going to "kill that (expletive)" for accusing him in the break-in.

According to a statement read in court by Detroit Police Officer Moses Jimenez, who interviewed Starks, it was Starks who admitted to breaking into the house not knowing the connection between Mosby and Cochran.

Starks said he was with Mosby when they met up with a third person who gave Mosby an AK-47. Starks said he saw Mosby aim the gun at Pearson's bedroom and heard the gun go off. After the shooting, Starks said he wrapped the gun in his sweatshirt and hid it.

Jakari Pearson was shot to death while asleep July 29 at his home in Detroit.

Watch web extra: Arraignment for 2 charged in 8-year-old's killing