A disgruntled husband in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is facing multiple charges for allegedly shooting his wife a day after she served him with divorce papers.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by MLive, Marcus Durayalle Lofton allegedly told police that he shot his wife, Alicia Lofton, after she served him with divorce papers on Aug. 16. After revealing their pending divorce, Alicia also told Marcus that she would be selling their house. The couple had just gotten married in February.
On the morning of Aug. 17, Grand Rapids police responded to calls of an unresponsive woman with multiple gunshot wounds next to a home on Union Avenue SE near Oakdale. When officers arrived, they found the mother of three lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body, the affidavit noted. After investigators identified Marcus as a possible suspect, authorities caught up to the disgraced husband as he was walking down the 1200 block of North Avenue NE. That’s when he allegedly came clean about the shooting incident.
During an interview with detectives, Marcus claimed that he and Alicia got into a heated argument on the morning of Aug. 17, after she served him with divorce papers the day prior.
The Grand Rapids native was not supposed to be in contact with his wife due to a domestic violence incident against the matriarch in May. Under the terms of his bond, Marcus was not allowed to contact Alicia. At around 8 a.m. Aug. 17, the scorned husband broke the court order when he traveled to the Union Avenue home where Alicia was staying.
According to the affidavit, when he arrived, they began arguing. Marcus allegedly told police that he reached into the drawer and grabbed Alicia’s pistol, hitting her with it during their squabble. The mother of three rushed into another room and locked the door, but when Marcus managed to force the door open, Alicia fled towards the window and tried to escape.
That’s when Marcus allegedly opened fire and shot Alicia several times. He was arraigned Aug. 18 and is facing charges of open murder and felony firearm. He is currently being held in jail without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 5 for a preliminary exam.
A family friend, Faustina Garcia, told Fox 17 West Michigan that all three of Alicia’s children are hurting from her painful loss. Her sudden death came as they were gearing up to go back to school.
“My oldest niece is graduating college next year. Her mom’s not going to be there. She’s going to be looking in the crowd to see her mom,” Garcia said. “It’s going to suck that my nephew is going to Grand Valley for his first year, and he’s looking for his mom to be there. It’s going to suck for my youngest niece, who’s in high school, who’s not going to have a mom there to pick out her prom dress.”
Garcia, who described the matriarch as “loving,” “outgoing,” and “high-spirited,” said Alicia was like a sister. Now, he’s created a GoFundMe campaign to help her children as they struggle to process her devastating loss.
As of Aug. 22, the campaign has generated over $6,000.
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