DETROIT — Two young men were charged with murder Tuesday in the death of a 2-year-old boy who was riding with his family when their pickup truck was hit with gunfire on Interstate 75 in Detroit.
The truck driven by Brian Christian was “mistakenly identified” by the pair, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office said. “The Christian family were innocent victims.”
Brison Christian was in a car seat when he was killed, and a 9-year-old brother, BJ, was injured. They were riding home to Dearborn with their parents after playing basketball last Thursday.
Darius Lanier, 19, and Eugene Hubbard, 21, were charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and other crimes. They were returned to jail without bond. It wasn’t immediately known if they have lawyers who could comment on the allegations.
There could be more arrests, said Lt. Mike Shaw of the state police.
“A child is dead because adults decided that they were judge, jury and executioner,” prosecutor Kym Worthy said. “They will get a fair trial, but Brison doesn’t get to have a life.”
Christian, wearing a shirt with a photo of his family, thanked police for quickly making arrests.
“When the situation happened, I just kept saying, man, what did I do for someone to want to kill me and my family?” Christian told reporters. “I do everything the right way. I couldn’t put it together.”
Detroit and area police, meanwhile, announced Operation Brison to crack down on road rage incidents and freeway shootings.
“We have a number of evil predators in our community that are focusing on our children, that are indiscriminately firing weapons. Enough is enough,” interim police Chief James White said.
