Slain Farmington Hills party store owner's family fills courtroom for preliminary hearing

Police say Casselle Nettles killed 59-year-old Duraid Lossia inside his store at Inkster, 8 Mile roads

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – We are getting a better picture of what happened inside a Farmington Hills party store when the owner was gunned down in December.

A customer found 59-year-old Duraid Lossia shot to death inside Tom's Party Store on Inkster Road just north of 8 Mile Road.

On Friday, 22 members of the Lossia family filed into a Farmington Hills courtroom. There were tears during testimony for their loved one.

Across the courtroom in handcuffs sat the suspected killer, Casselle Nettles. Nettles allegedly shot Lossia at point-blank range in the head just after noon on a Saturday.

On the witness stand during this preliminary hearing was Lossia's daughter, Emily, who also worked at her father's store. She calmly and confidently translated register receipts from her father's final moments before he was murdered.

Prosecutors are building the case that it was Nettles who went in and pretended to buy chips and a drink to get Lossia to open the register. Once opened, Lossia was shot right in the head.

Police found him dead behind the counter. Large bills from the register had been cleaned out.

"And there was an obvious injury to his forehead just above the right eye," said Farmington Hills police Officer Garrett Anderson.

However, Nettles was never seen on security camera inside the store because the cameras didn't work.

Sources say Nettles was arrested because he was captured just before the killing happened on security cameras at businesses near Tom's Party Store.

Nettles is charged with murder, armed robbery and felony gun crime charges because he already is a convicted felon.


Casselle Nettles in court on Feb. 21, 2014.


About the Author

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.

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