Detroit: Secret Suspect Arrested in Blackberry Club Murder of Nursing Student Claudia Benson

 

Murder victim Claudia Benson 

By Nicholas Stix

[Previously, on this case, at WEJB/NSU:

“Blackberry: Detroit’s Murder Bar—Demesha Hunt, Renisha Landers, and Now, Claudia Benson Last Seen Alive There.”]

I find it hard enough to accept the Detroit PD’s practice of refusing to release or confirm the name of a criminal suspect, prior to arresting him, but at least a rationale can be made for that: If he knows you’re after him, he might skip town. But not even the flimsiest justification can be made for withholding the name of a suspect already in custody.

Does the suspect have friends on the jail staff who might help him break out? If he’s in county, the bad guys—among the population and the staff alike—already know it. It’s only the public that is left in the dark.

I guess the public doesn’t need to know these things.

Following crime in the former Motor City is even more mysterious than in New York.

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Arrest made in slaying of Detroit nursing student
By Mark Hicks
January 19, 2012 at 1:00 a.m.
The Detroit News
2 Comments

Detroit — As soon as Claudia Benson finalized her college class schedule last week, she went out to celebrate with friends.

The 21-year-old Detroiter studied nursing at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn and was eagerly anticipating following in the footsteps of her grandmother and cousins, who work in the field.

"She had her heart set on becoming a registered nurse," said her mother, Alecha Benson. "She was really excited."

The student's dreams ended about 12:10 a.m. Saturday. That's when Benson was shot outside of a bar and grill near Grand River and Patton on the city's west side, the victim of an armed robbery. She later died from her injuries.

A person of interest, identified through surveillance video from a nearby business, was arrested Wednesday night near Seven Mile after a tip, said Sgt. Eren Stephens of the Detroit Police Department.

Alecha Benson said her daughter and two friends had their purses stolen outside of the Blackberry Bar & Grill.

The suspect "had no mercy at all," she said. "He had no reason to do this. None whatsoever. … He destroyed so many lives."

The youngest daughter of six children, Claudia Benson graduated from Old Redford Academy Preparatory High School in 2008.

She loved babysitting her nephew, and her "biggest vice" was Snickers candy bars, her mother said. "She was a very effervescent, loving person."

• Tiffani Jones-Greenlee • Clinton Township, Michigan

This really upsets me!

Ladies PLEASE stop going to this stupid bar (Blackberry bar & grill)! Sometimes you need to just go somewhere and SIT IT DOWN! These BUMS ain't trying to holla, they looking for an easy way out/easy target,..Such as robbing YOU! And will kill you in the process. How do I know? Been there! So please, for now, stay home & bake some cookies or something!
Reply • 4 •

• Follow Post • 2 hours ago

[Of related interest, at WEJB/NSU:

“Detroit: No-Name Clearances of No-Name Murders”;

“Detroit: New Crime Stats Fail Smell Test; How Could Crime Go Down 7% Overall Last Quarter, While Homicides Went Up 31%?”;

“Are White Gangs Making It Impossible to Drive City Buses in Detroit? Inquiring Minds Want to Know”;

“Detroit: Buses are So Dangerous and Unreliable That Disabled Mom of 6 Traded Her House for a Minivan”;

“Detroit: Three Men in Their 20s Allegedly Kidnapped and Gang-Raped Girl, 13, for at Least Three Days”;

“Mysterious, Anonymous Detroit News Story About Arrest of Triple Shooting Suspect, Nasir Banks”;

“Happy New Year, Detroit-Style: Club Manager was Killed, Trying to Break Up a Fight; FREEP Writer Knows Facts, but Refuses to Report Them”;

“Detroit: Serial Killer is Murdering Prostitutes Who Advertised Online in Pairs, and Stuffing Them in Car Trunks”; and

“Detroit: Murder Up 12%, but ‘Serious’ Crime is Down; Broken Windows Policing is on the Way.”]