Photos courtesy of Genesee County Sheriff’s Office
FLINT — Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said a jury has found 25-year-old Deondre Dawayne McLilly and his mother, Windy Marie Weatherford, 49, both of Grand Blanc Township, guilty in the shooting death of 20-year-old Alicia Jackson-Skaggs in the parking lot of the Golden Corral restaurant in Flint Township in 2022.
According to testimony at trial and investigative reports, Flint Township police were dispatched at 7:40 p.m. on March 29, 2022 to the Golden Corral restaurant on Miller Road. Upon arrival, they observed a dark colored car had crashed into the restaurant’s roadside sign and a crowd of people were gathered around the vehicle.
Police then observed a female in the front passenger’s seat later identified as Jackson Skaggs suffering from a gunshot wound to her head and a male passenger who was applying pressure to Jackson-Skaggs’ head wound.
Witnesses said two suspects had fled the scene in a white SUV moments after the shooting. As police were on the outlook for the vehicle and its passengers, a vehicle matching the description was stopped by Michigan State Police at Bristol Road and I-75 and the driver, later identified as McLilly’s mother, Windy Marie Weatherford, was arrested. The passenger, later identified as McLilly, fled on foot and was apprehended
and arrested after an aggressive resistance near Torrey and Bristol Roads.
Just prior to the incident at Golden Corral, Jackson-Skaggs and the driver of the car she was in and another passenger were in the drive-thru line at Culver’s restaurant on Miller Rd. when a white SUV pulled up behind them and, recognizing the occupants in the SUV, the trio in the car quickly pulled out of the line to exit the parking lot. At that point, McLilly, in the SUV, fired two shots at the victims’ car. The car sped away and a chase ensued on nearby roads as the white SUV pursued them at speeds estimated to be over 70 mph.
The trio in the car ended up in the Golden Corral parking lot, and the white SUV appeared as well and multiple shots were fired from the SUV at the victims’ car causing it to crash into the Golden Corral signpost. Witnesses said the shooter from the SUV approached the crashed vehicle on foot and fired more shots at it before fleeing the scene in the SUV.
“McLilly and the deceased victim had an on-again, off-again volatile relationship and had been in an argument earlier in the day, but it in absolutely no way justifies what transpired that evening,” said Leyton.
“This was a terrible tragedy that occurred on one of the most prominent commercial strips in all of Genesee County.”
Leyton credited the Flint Township Police Department and supporting agencies for their expeditious handling of the investigation in this case.
Leyton also commended the hard work of his staff, including Assistant Prosecutor Lori Selvidge, who took the case to trial with the support of her team of victim advocates, legal assistants and paralegals.
In all, McLilly is convicted of 26 counts including second degree murder, five counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, two counts of aggravated stalking, one count of resisting and obstructing police and more than a dozen related firearm charges.
Weatherford was found guilty of 19 felonies including second degree murder, five counts of assault with intent to murder and thirteen related firearm charges.
Both McLilly and Weatherford face up to life in prison when they are sentenced next month.
