Detroit man convicted in 2021 Facebook Marketplace murder

DETROIT (WWJ) A jury has convicted a Detroit man for the 2021 murder of a Kentucky man whom he met on Facebook Marketplace.

According to a statement from the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel; prosecutors said Devontae Eshawn Long, 31, murdered the man who drove from his Louisville home to Detroit to buy a pull-behind vehicle trailer from Long in December 2021. Long had pre-arranged the meeting with the victim, 28, via Facebook Marketplace.

Prosecutors said; when the victim arrived; Long pulled him from the vehicle, shot him in the back and killed him. They said Long took off with the victim’s Cadillac Escalade and all of his possessions, including a .45 caliber handgun.

“Both buyers and sellers should exercise extreme caution when arranging private online marketplace sales, especially when traveling long distances to places they are unfamiliar with,” Nessel said in the statement. “This was a tragic and brutal ambush, and I am grateful for the jury’s service in handing down these significant verdicts.”

Long was convicted of one count of Felony Murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence. He also convicted of one count of Carjacking, a felony with a possible life sentence; one count of Felon in Possession of a Handgun, a felony punishable by up to five years in jail; and two counts of Felony Firearm, a mandatory 2-year incarceration sentence.

He’s slated to be sentenced on July 18th.