Nationwide — Lakylia Taylor, a 20-year-old African American woman from Detroit, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and two other felony charges in connection with a 2025 shooting outside a Footlocker store in Eastpointe, Michigan. The shooting killed one man, wounded another and left another man dead after a confrontation in the parking lot.
Taylor entered her pleas Monday before Macomb County Circuit Judge Anthony Servitto. According to the Macomb Daily, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter, felony firearm possession, and carrying a concealed weapon for the May 3 shooting outside the Footlocker at Kelly and Eight Mile roads.
The confrontation started as Taylor, her 22-year-old brother, Dejuan Taylor, and two younger relatives walked across the parking lot toward the store. Security footage and other evidence showed Juvan Maurice Newman making comments toward Dejuan from a parked vehicle before getting out and confronting him. Newman was armed, and the situation quickly became physical.
During the struggle, Dejuan grabbed Newman’s gun and was shot in the shoulder. Taylor then went back to her vehicle, retrieved a handgun, and fired at Newman and two men who had been inside his vehicle. Steven Edward Gardin Jr. was fatally shot, while Tyjaune Morris-Turner was wounded but survived. Newman also died in the shooting.
Prosecutors did not charge Taylor in Newman’s death, saying she acted in defense of her brother while he was being attacked. Her manslaughter plea was part of an agreement that allowed prosecutors to dismiss a second-degree murder charge in Gardin’s death, an attempted murder charge involving Morris-Turner, and another felony-firearm charge. Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, while second-degree murder can result in a sentence of up to life in prison.
After the shooting, Dejuan allegedly picked up a magazine from a gun dropped by one of the victims before leaving the scene with his sister. He later pleaded guilty to attempted evidence tampering, and prosecutors dropped his other charges under a separate plea deal. He is seeking status under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, which could allow his conviction to be erased if he meets certain conditions. Taylor has remained free since September after posting a $250,000 cash or surety bond, which Servitto reduced from $2.5 million. She is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 2. Court records mention a possible sentencing agreement but provide no further details, and her attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.