Woman accused of shooting six leaving Detroit Princess released
Posted:
Updated:
By Taryn Asher, Fox 2 News -
Latoiya Mitchell
DETROIT (WJBK) -
Detroit police catch the woman they say shot six people as they were leaving the Detroit Princess, but the prosecutor wants to see more evidence, so police had no choice but to let her go.
It was a little over a week ago Audrey Fox said she was aboard the Detroit Princess when a man struck her in the face with a glass.
"He finally got off the boat. When he got off the boat, he attempted to hit me. When he attempted to hit me, a fight broke out."
She said that man was Michael Thomas, the husband of Latoiya Mitchell. When the fight spilled onto land, we're told Mitchell went to her car, grabbed her registered revolver and at her husband's command, started shooting into the crowd. Fox was hit in the leg.
"It was like a domino effect. We all just started getting shot. I could hear people as they went down screaming, agony, and then that's when I felt it and what is that? And then that's when I realized I was shot also."
Police say a woman in the crowd eventually fired back and struck Mitchell's husband in the back. The couple took off and surveillance images show Mitchell dumping her husband at the hospital before eventually abandoning her car and going into hiding.
One day after Fox 2 aired her picture, naming her suspect number one, Mitchell turned herself in.
"I do know who shot me, yes," said Fox, responding in the affirmative when we asked if it was Latoiya Mitchell.
Like Fox, police say they interviewed several witnesses who identified Mitchell as the shooter, but the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office claimed there was not enough evidence to charge the 29-year-old. On Saturday, police were forced to let her go.
"What the police are doing I'm not completely privy to. We maintain the fact that my client is innocent of all criminal activity, period," said Bryon Pitts, Mitchell's attorney.
If that times comes and they do have a warrant for her arrest?
"We'll be happy to turn her in, and we'll be happy to face these allegations."
Despite the delay, Fox, who still has a bullet lodged in her leg muscle and is forced to walk in pain with a cane, believes justice will be served.
"They have a lot of stuff to go through with a lot of other people to come forward. They are doing that slowly but surely, but I do believe in the prosecution and the police that they are going to do that."
Of course, police investigators are upset because they felt they had gathered enough evidence for Mitchell to be charged. However, the prosecutor's office wants 911 tapes, more surveillance video from the Detroit Princess and to hear from other witnesses with names like "Devil Dog" and "Cobra" and "Black". Those are their street names, so it may be hard to get in touch with them. We're told police are working to meet their needs so that they can get Mitchell back in custody.
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Latoiya Mitchell
