FLINT — Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said a jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts
related to a 2019 murder at a Flint party store.
Christopher Lumpkin, 27 of Detroit, was convicted of first degree murder, felony firearm and carrying
a concealed weapon for the shooting death of 28-year-old Flint resident Demarqule Goodlow just
after midnight on September 1, 2019 at the EZ Stop party store near Dort Highway and Lippincott
Boulevard in the City of Flint.
According to testimony at trial, the victim was just about to exit the store parking lot with his girlfriend
and two others as passengers when the group remembered they had forgotten to get something at
the store and so, the victim abruptly put his vehicle in reverse and began to back up. Immediately
behind them was Lumpkin who was driving a vehicle with his girlfriend as a passenger and he was
forced to put his car in reverse to avoid a collision.
According to testimony, after the near collision, the two girlfriends exchanged words back and forth
as they were yelling out their vehicle windows. Goodlow then parked, got out of his vehicle and
began walking toward the store entrance when Lumpkin came running up on him and emptied the
clip on a gun he was carrying and struck Goodlow 13 times.
After shooting Goodlow, Lumpkin fled the scene and was arrested a few days later. The defense
made a claim of self-defense since Goodlow himself was in possession of a handgun but no
evidence at trial suggested he was about to use the weapon prior to being shot and killed.
“This was yet another tragic ending to a simple argument between two groups of people that
resulted in the death of an individual,” said Prosecutor Leyton. “This never should have happened
and it wouldn’t have happened had guns not been involved.”
“It seems these days from the reports my office receives that everyone is carrying a gun on the
streets of Flint because nobody wants to go out in public unarmed for their own protection,” Leyton continued. “The unfortunate result is that rather than making individuals more safe and secure, gun possession places the community as a whole in greater danger because guns have become an instant response to any quarrel or confrontation.”
Lumpkin faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced on January 14, 2022.
