A Michigan man is in custody after his sister and nephew were brutally stabbed to death in their own home earlier this week.
According to Oakland County Jail records, Ladamien Keith Hill, 43, faces first-degree premeditated murder charges.
Linda Hill, 41, and her 12-year-old son, Kardi Jackson, were discovered dead inside a home on Berdeno Avenue in Hazel Park, a small Detroit suburb, on Monday evening.
According to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, both victims were slashed in the throat multiple times.
“This is a case of shocking and deplorable violence against a single mother and her son in their own home,” said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, in a statement obtained by The Detroit News and local ABC affiliate WXYZ. “Linda Hill and Kardi Jackson should be with us. “My heart goes out to their family as they mourn their loss.”
According to a press release from the Hazel Park Police Department, Linda Hill’s uncle, who lives in the basement of the residence in question, made the grim discovery. According to prosecutors, the uncle called police to report loud noises because he believed no one else was at home except his niece and grandnephew while watching TV.
According to authorities, the presence of a red Lincoln in the area prior to the mother and child’s deaths linked the defendant to the crime. That same car then left the immediate vicinity of the residence around the time the murders are suspected to have occurred. The car then left the general area entirely.
Later that night, family members reported that Ladamien Hill arrived at the house in a red Lincoln.
However, it wasn’t just the car that raised suspicions. The family initially struggled to locate the man whose sister had recently died, according to police.
“Family then reported that after police cleared the crime scene, Ladamien Hill walked into Linda’s home uninvited stating ‘forgive me’ and then reportedly walked into Linda’s bedroom, laying in her bed naked for 5-15 minutes before leaving the house,” according to the news release.
On September 2, investigators from the local police and sheriff’s offices searched the accused man’s car and home.
Police claim to have discovered blood inside the vehicle as well as on clothing inside the defendant’s home, which “contained suspected blood evidence from the crime scene.”
Police also cited “video evidence” of clothing worn by the defendant “after the homicide,” according to the press release. The exact relationship between the alleged articles of clothing and the evidence recovered in the case is currently unknown.
A motive is also currently elusive.
“At this time, we still do not know why this horrific crime occurred,” the police department stated. “We can only hope that court proceedings to follow may shed some light on that question.”
Ladamien Hill was arraigned on the charges against him on Friday afternoon, according to a WXYZ courtroom report. Throughout the proceedings, the accused remained silent as his attorney entered a plea of not guilty.
The defendant is next scheduled to appear in court on September 16 for a probable cause hearing.
