Bilal Berreni
Dionte Travis, whose first trial on murder charges ended in a deadlock, was convicted of felony murder Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court in the shooting of French street artist Bilal Berreni in Detroit in July 2013 in the Brewster Projects.
Two defendants have already been convicted in the murder/robbery of Berreni, but authorities say that Travis was the one who actually shot the artist in the head. A juvenile in the case still faces trial.
In September, a Wayne County Circuit Court jury convicted Travis, 18, of armed robbery in connection with the case. But the jury deadlocked on the murder count, and a mistrial was declared.
Another defendant, Drequone Rich, 21, pleaded guilty in Wayne County Circuit Court to second-degree murder and got 27-40 year. Defendant Jasin Curtis, 18, was also sentenced for murder to 25 to 40 years.
Ira Todd, a Detroit police homicide investigator, who was in charge of the case, was grateful Thursday for the conviction and thanked the homicide task force, the French Consulate and assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Brian Surma.
"This was a senseless killing, " Todd said. "Even after he willingly gave up his money, they killed him. There was no reason to kill him."