Two men charged with the murder of Joseph Lavon Parker outside an East Lansing 7-Eleven will next stand trial at the 30th Judicial Circuit Court.
Eric Charles Gordy and Hatarie Deamont McCorkle, both of Detroit, will also stand trial for eluding police following Judge Richard D. Ball's decision Friday at the District Court 54-B in East Lansing - two days after the end of the preliminary examination.
Gordy, 35, and McCorkle, 29, will appear in the Veterans Memorial Courthouse on May 26. They face jail time if found guilty of the crimes that took place at the 7-Eleven at 210 E. Michigan Ave. on Feb. 29.
The preliminary examination took two full days in court to complete because of the large quantity of evidence produced and given testimony.
"This is rather extraordinary, but murder cases tend to draw a little bit more evidence than some of the others," Ingham County Chief Trial Attorney Michael Ferency said. " I would rate this one as more comprehensive than most though."
Evidence included the surveillance video tape from the 7-Eleven, bullets, a handgun and clothing; witness testimony ranged from eyewitness accounts from a 19-year-old MSU student to reports from forensic experts.
Defense attorneys, David Feinberg and Hugh Clarke argued in closing that there was not enough accurate information to prosecute their clients, Gordy and McCorkle, respectively.
The prosecution decided it will not pursue a separate count of assault with intent to murder against McCorkle and Gordy. The victim, Lansing's George Edward Whitfield, was unavailable to make a court appearance.
The third man arrested, 34-year-old Jamil Atrez Spinner, is still being held as a material witness and did not testify during the preliminary examination.
Friends and family members of the victim and accused reacted solemnly to the end of the two-day preliminary exam.
"I miss him," Affie Parker, the victim's mother, said. "But by being a saved woman, God has given me peace through this, and that's why I'm able to say I don't have any malice."
Eric Gordy's ex-wife, Candace Gordy, is hoping for the best.
"What I'm hoping and praying is that everyone sees that if they did do something wrong, it wasn't murder," Candace Gordy said.
Parker's brother-in-law, Keenan Sanders, is looking for answers.
"I'm going to be forgiving about everything," Sanders said. "But I want them to go ahead and man up to what they did."
"There's so much evidence pointing towards that they did it," Sanders added. "And (the defense) is trying to switch it around, like, you know, nothing happened."
"But there is a little boy walking around missing his dad, and I'm missing my brother-in-law."
