FLINT — Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said a jury returned a guilty verdict on March 6 against a 45-year-old man in last year’s beating death of a resident at Simmons Square Apartments in the city of Flint.
Quinntrell Devon Willis, a resident of Ann Arbor, is convicted of second-degree murder related to the March 12, 2023, attack on 66-year-old Ray Whitaker after he refused to open the door for Willis into the lobby of the apartment complex.
“This was as horrific of an assault on an innocent person as I have seen in my nearly twenty years as Prosecutor for Genesee County,” said Leyton after the verdict was read.
According to testimony at trial, Willis arrived at Simmons Square Apartments to visit Willis’ stepfather who was a resident. After hitting the buzzer near the front door of the lobby and not receiving a response from family, Willis began to motion to Whitaker who he could see through a glass door to let him inside. Whitaker, a 10-year resident of Simmons Square, refused to let Willis in because he did not recognize Willis and it was
against apartment policy to let people in who you do not know, according to a building manager who testified at trial.
Eventually, Willis was buzzed into the apartment complex by his family.
When Willis entered into the lobby, he immediately charged straight toward Whitaker and a fight quickly ensued with Willis striking Whitaker approximately eight times with his fists. The fight ended and Willis went upstairs to his stepfather’s apartment where he told his nephew, 21-year-old Monte Ayers, what had occurred in the lobby.
Willis then said he was going to go back down to assault Whitaker again. This time, Ayers and his girlfriend followed Willis down to the lobby and when they arrived, Willis immediately charged Whitaker striking him at least 40 times with his fists and kicking him multiple times in the head after Whitaker had fallen to the floor.
During the assault on Whitaker, Ayers recorded portions of it on his phone and began mocking Whitaker for not letting Willis inside earlier. Ayers also kicked Whitaker twice as well.
After the assault in the lobby, Willis and Ayers and his girlfriend went back to Willis’ stepfather’s apartment.
Whitaker was eventually transported to Hurley Medical Center where he was conscious for a day before steadily declining, slipping into a coma and dying ten days later.
Ayers was charged and convicted of Assault with Intent to Do Great Bodily Harm Less Than Murder and sentenced to prison for 11 years on the minimum in agreement for testimony against his uncle.
Both assaults in the lobby were recorded by Simmons Square video surveillance.
“There is absolutely no justification for what Quinntrell Willis did to Mr. Whitaker and it is appalling that one human being can unleash such violence on another for no reason other than apparently feeling disrespected for not being let into a building,” said Leyton. “While nothing can bring Mr. Whitaker back nor undo the pain and suffering he and his family endured, it is my hope that today’s verdict can at least be the beginning of a
sense of healing for the family.
Willis faces up to life in prison at sentencing.
