The fatal shooting of a Canton Township man that stemmed from a dispute over mulch earlier this month might have been avoided if prosecutors and a judge hadn’t overlooked glaring warning signs about the suspect, Metro Times has learned.
Before Devereaux Johnson, 47, allegedly shot his neighbor, he was charged in June 2023 with assault and battery. He was accused of assaulting a Canton Township employee.
Five months later, he was also charged with a felony count of assaulting, obstructing, or resisting a police officer.
While in Plymouth’s 35th District Court last year, Johnson was so erratic, combative, and loud that he was trailed by security officers and even had to meet with Chief Judge Ronald Lowe about his behavior, according to sources who work at the courthouse.
“He was a walking red flag,” one of the sources said on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “Everyone was on edge when he came in.”
Johnson is also on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry for a sex crime conviction in January 2005 in Nevada. The conviction was never brought up during any of Johnson’s hearings.
In the assault-and-battery case, Johnson missed a court hearing, refused to answer a judge’s questions, fired his first attorney, and ranted about his interactions with the probation department, according to public court records.
On Nov. 8, Johnson checked in at the security desk at 35th District Court but left the building before attending a mandated court hearing, court records state. A day later, he was charged with assaulting, obstructing, or resisting a police officer.
35th District Court
Judge James Plakas
Despite all of this, less than three weeks later, Judge James Plakas sentenced Johnson to one year of probation and fined him $450. The judge also gave Johnson a 30-day suspended sentence, which means he wouldn’t have to spend a day behind bars if he abided by the terms of his probation.
Before the sentencing, Johnson hired defense attorney Wade McCann, whose sister is Judge Kathleen McCann of Livonia’s 16th District Court. Judge McCann previously endorsed Plakas.
Plakas is not known as a lenient judge. He has jailed other defendants without politically connected attorneys for crimes as minor as driving offenses, court sources say.
On July 2, less than five months before Johnson’s probation ended, Plakas granted Johnson’s request to terminate his probation early, even though one of the victims opposed it.
At no point in the hearings did Canton Township Prosecutor Gregory Demopoulos call for a stiffer sentence or object to the early discharge of Johnson’s probation. In fact, Demopoulos offered Johnson a plea deal that ultimately led to a reduced charge, according to Plakas.
In response to Johnson’s erratic behavior, neither the prosecutor, attorney, nor the judge requested a mental health evaluation. If that had occurred, Johnson could have been held in custody until a mental health expert examined him and determined if he needed help.
“This was 100% preventable,” one of the court sources says.
In an interview with Metro Times, Plakas and Demopoulos defended their handling of the case, saying they didn’t have enough information to warrant more severe actions against Johnson.
They say they didn’t know that Johnson was previously convicted of a sex crime, even though he was listed on the publicly accessible Michigan Sex Offender Registry. Before defendants are sentenced, the probation department conducts a criminal background check through the Michigan Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) to determine if a defendant has a rap sheet. Court records show a LIEN search was conducted.
“I was relying on my probation officer,” Plakas tells Metro Times. “I don’t know if when they ran his record that it didn’t show up. I rely on them when I read their pre-sentence report.”
According to Plakas, he believed Johnson was a first-time offender who had complied with his probation requirements, which involved seeing a psychologist through Veteran Affairs.
“At the VA hospital, they would know best how to deal with someone who may have post-traumatic stress from his service to the country,” Plakas says. “He completed his scheduled sessions in March. So now I am going on the opinion of a licensed psychologist in their outpatient clinic telling me he has been rehabilitated.”
Plakas says he had no choice but to grant Johnson’s request for early release from probation because of recent changes to a Michigan law. The statute, he says, requires a judge to release defendants from probation at the halfway point if they meet the required criteria, which include achieving the rehabilitative goals of probation and posing no specific threats to the victim.
In this case, Plakas says, Johnson completed his probation requirements, and there were no specific threats to the victim. When Plakas asked the victim if he believed Johnson was a threat, he said no, the judge says.
Plakas also took exception to claims that he treats defendants differently. He says he tries to strike a balance between protecting society and offering a defendant a second chance at redemption.
“People probably look at me and say I’m tough on crime … That’s fine. I’m also fair,” Plakas says. “I’m hyper-focused on making people safer. I’m following the law. I could have given him jail right out of the shoot, which would have been incredibly unfair.”
Demopoulos says Johnson’s assault charge was “not overly serious.”
“It was relatively minor,” Demopoulos says. “What are we going to do? Put him in jail for 93 days?”
But at the time, Johnson was also charged with a felony count of assaulting, obstructing, or resisting a police officer. For reasons that are unclear, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the case on Feb. 2.
“There is little that we have found about this case,” Maria Miller, spokesperson for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, tells Metro Times, adding, “There may have been a weakness or defect in the case that caused the dismissal.”
In March, public defender Sundus K. Jaber claimed in a federal whistleblower lawsuit that she was prevented from representing indigent defendants in criminal cases in Plakas’s courtroom in retaliation for vigorously defending her clients. Jaber, a Muslim who wears a hijab, says she was mistreated and harassed by judges and their staff at the expense of her clients.
On her first day as a public defender, Lowe advised Jaber that she would be removed if she fights too much on behalf of her clients, saying she “needs to understand that 95% of the people she will represent are guilty,” according to the lawsuit.
Lowe then said, “If you contest more than 5% of cases, we will boot you out of here,” the suit alleges.
Johnson didn’t need a public defender and appears to be financially comfortable. According to the sex offender registry, he owns two cars — a 2023 Q5 Audi and a 2022 Mazda. It’s unclear if Johnson works for a living.
Plakas is presiding over Johnson’s murder case. This time, Johnson’s attorney, McCann, petitioned for a mental health evaluation for his client.
Johnson is accused of killing Nathan Morris, a 35-year-old father of two children. According to police, Johnson began threatening Morris’s family after one of his daughters touched Johnson’s mulch.
Canton police found Morris lying in the street with multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died.
After the shooting, Johnson barricaded himself inside his home before ultimately surrendering, according to police.
“This was a senseless act of violence toward the victim,” Canton Police Chief Chad Baugh said in a statement following the shooting.
A fundraiser was launched to help Morris’s family. So far, they have raised $71,800, with a goal of reaching $75,000.
