Livonia News This Week

One of two men charged in the fatal stabbing of a Detroit man over a stolen backpack pleads guilty to larceny, as his co-defendant heads toward an Oct. 26 trial on a second-degree murder charge. A Wayne County-owned tree that fell on a Livonia family's property during July storms destroyed their son's camper, and the county has denied the family's damage claim. The city opens registration for its Haunt Your Home Halloween decorating contest. Heat peaks near 76 degrees Saturday. Comments are open below.

The Weather: Heat Peaks Near 76 Degrees Saturday

Saturday is the week's warmest day at 76°, 16 degrees above Wednesday's 60°, the week's coolest daytime high. Sunday brings the heaviest rain, 0.331 inches on a 46% chance, with light drizzle returning Wednesday (0.114 inches) and Thursday (0.047 inches). Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday are dry.

The News

Man charged in deadly Livonia stabbing over stolen backpack pleads guilty

Scott Andrew Harrington, 26, of Taylor, pleaded guilty Sept. 14 to larceny from a building in connection with the May 29 stabbing death of Nicholos Hatcher, 34, of Detroit, near Middlebelt Road and Orangelawn Street. Investigators say Hatcher, Harrington and Spencer Jude Krusell, 30, of Highland Park, were at a BioLife Plasma Services center on Plymouth Road beforehand, where one of the two men stole Hatcher's backpack; Hatcher followed them and confronted them, and the confrontation escalated into a fight in which he was stabbed once in the upper chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A charge against Harrington of receiving and concealing stolen property was dismissed as part of the plea deal. Krusell is charged with second-degree murder as a habitual offender. Harrington is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 26, the same day Krusell is scheduled to go on trial.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, September 15, 2026

County-owned tree destroys Livonia family's camper; county denies damage claim

A Wayne County-owned tree fell on Livonia resident Barbara Porcek's property during July storms, destroying a camper the family used as living space for her son, who has special needs. Porcek said she and neighbors had reported the tree to the county “probably eight times or more” over several years, warning its branches were pressing toward power lines. The county denied the family's damage claim. Porcek said the letter they received gave an act of nature as the reason. The county, in a statement, said its forestry division responded to a storm-damage request at the beginning of July, that DTE completed additional work on a limb over its power lines, and that the forestry division then did ground cleanup in the same area; it said it denied the claim “due to our legal policy,” and did not mention an act of nature. Porcek said, “We think if the tree belongs to Wayne County, then they should cut them. If they cut them before, there would be no story.”

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, September 16, 2026

Livonia opens registration for Haunt Your Home Halloween decorating contest

Livonia has opened registration for its Haunt Your Home Halloween decorating contest, open to all residences citywide. The deadline to register is Monday, Oct. 19, at 9 a.m., with a photo of the home required; judging runs Oct. 19-25 and community voting for the People's Choice award closes Oct. 26 at 9 a.m. Five awards will be given: People's Choice, Mayor's Choice, the Who Ya Gonna Call (Ghostbusters) Award, Nightmare on Livonia Street for scariest decorations, and Spooktacularly Unique for most original theme. Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan and the Ghostbusters plan to deliver awards to winners the evening of Oct. 28. A map of participating houses is expected to be released later.

Source: City of Livonia, September 16, 2026

Metro Detroit

Michigan Supreme Court sends Ethan Crumbley's life sentence back for appeals court review

The Michigan Supreme Court on Sept. 17 remanded Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley's case to the Michigan Court of Appeals, ordering it to review whether Crumbley had an ineffective lawyer, whether a judge abused his discretion in finding prosecutors provided enough evidence to justify mandatory life without parole, and whether comments Crumbley made at sentencing waived his right to appeal. Crumbley, now 20, was 15 on Nov. 30, 2021, when he killed four students and wounded seven others, including a teacher, at Oxford High School with a gun his parents bought him for Christmas; he is housed at the Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee. The Michigan Court of Appeals denied his requests to withdraw his guilty plea or be resentenced last year. The review follows the U.S. Supreme Court's 2012 ruling in Miller v. Alabama, which held that the Eighth Amendment bars mandatory life-without-parole sentences for those under 18 convicted of murder without a case-by-case review of youth and circumstances.

Source: Deadline Detroit (Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press), September 19, 2026

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