A serial carjacker, who shot and pistol-whipped his victims, was sent to prison.
On April 12, 2023, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, revealed in a press release from the Eastern District of Michigan's U.S. Attorney's Office, that a Detroit man had been given a 25-year prison term today for charges connected to three distinct violent carjackings that occurred in June and July 2020.
The 23-year-old, Rayquan Sturgis, previously entered pleas of guilty to two counts of carjacking, one count of carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of discharging a firearm during and in connection with a violent crime, and one count of using or carrying a firearm during and in connection with a violent crime in federal court. U.S. District Judge Sean F. Cox sentenced Sturgis.
“Individuals who assault and carjack the citizens of this district will not escape the dedicated and persistent employees of the Department of Justice, the Detroit Police Department, and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office," Ison said in the release. "This case is a prime example of how my office and our federal and local law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to prosecute those who use firearms to terrorize the citizens of our community,”
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office initially accused Sturgis of participating in one of the carjackings. The carjacking charge, however, was dropped by Wayne County so that it could be prosecuted alongside the federal gun and carjacking counts in the federal prosecution.
“This is an example of the excellent collaboration between Prosecutor Worthy’s office and my office,” Ison stated in the release. “This collaboration was critical in obtaining this significant federal sentence that was handed down today and will be critical in our approach to violent crime going forward.”
Sturgis carjacked three persons in three different situations after each of them made an effort to assist him in some way. After the first victim was involved in a collision on June 10, 2020, he gave him a ride. Sturgis forced her out of her car and pointed a gun at her after she had driven him 15 minutes away. He then started driving away. On June 18, 2020, Sturgis asked the second victim for help getting his car started. They traveled a few blocks before Sturgis got out of the car, turning to face the driver's side, and then opened fire, repeatedly, before the victim had a chance to flee. The third incident happened later that same year in July when Sturgis pistol-whipped his victim before driving off.
