News

Deangelo Martin Sentenced to 45 to 70 Years for Murders of Four Detroit Women

The women were found in vacant houses on the city's east side in 2018 and 2019. Martin pleaded guilty to second-degree murder a month before.

Published

Illustration: a house at night behind crime scene tape on a wet street

Four women were found in four empty houses on Detroit's east side, each lying facedown, between February 2018 and June 2019. On Thursday, October 6, 2022, the man who admitted killing them was sentenced in Wayne County Circuit Court to 45 to 70 years in prison. Judge Regina Thomas imposed the term on Deangelo Kenneth Martin a month after he pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree murder, along with 20 to 40 years, to run at the same time, on two separate criminal sexual conduct cases.

The women were Annetta Nelson, 57; Nancy Harrison, 52; Travesene Ellis, 55; and Tamara Jones, 55, all of Detroit. Nelson was found on February 26, 2018, in a vacant house in the 11620 block of Winthrop Street by a man who carried her outside and flagged down police. Harrison was found on March 19, 2019, on Coventry Street, and Ellis five days later on Linnhurst Street. Jones was found on June 5, 2019, in a vacant house on Mack Avenue. Nelson's and Harrison's deaths were ruled homicides by blunt force trauma; for Ellis and Jones, decomposition left the cause undetermined. Prosecutors had said Martin left the same signature at each scene, often leaving a sock behind and positioning the body in a particular way.

He had been charged in each case with first-degree premeditated murder and felony murder, and he was due to stand trial in September. Instead he took a plea agreement that set the sentence in advance.

In court, the families spoke first. Gary Harrison, Nancy's father, said his daughter had owned her own home and paid her bills, and that she would never know the two grandchildren born since her death. Her brother Timothy said the past three and a half years had been rough, and that he was bitter. Her daughter, Lisa Hohnstreiter, told Martin he was "the perfect example of why Michigan should have the death penalty," and said the plea deal left him a hope of release he did not deserve.

Latrease Ellis, Travesene's daughter, told the court she had prayed for her own family and for Martin too. "I pray that God has mercy on your soul," she said. Anita Nelson Reed, Annetta's twin sister, said her sister had struggled with addiction but was not homeless. "She had family members who loved her and looked after her," she said, and she asked the judge to throw away the key.

Martin spoke last, briefly and barely audibly, saying it was not his wrongdoing. The judge reminded him of his plea and the evidence against him and then imposed the sentence. "The women Deangelo Martin violently killed all had families who loved them dearly," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. "Hopefully, they will find some peace knowing that he will be in the Michigan Department of Corrections and off the streets."

On the names and numbers. The third victim's name is printed as Travesene Ellis in the prosecutor's account as WDIV published it, and her daughter gave her surname as Ellis in court; FOX 2 Detroit spelled the first name both Travesene and Trevesene. FOX 2 Detroit reported that Martin had also been connected to the deaths of Deborah Reynolds and Yvonne Cobern but was never charged in them; he was not convicted of either. His age is given as 34 in the prosecutor's account, which appears to date from his 2019 charging, and as 37 in FOX 2's report of the sentencing.

Sources