Unconnected murder, shooting cases dismissed against Detroit man

Charges against a Detroit man in connection to a murder and a separate shooting have been dismissed, according to prosecutors.

Aaron McClinton was originally facing charges related to three separate incidents: a murder and two shootings. Only one of the shooting charges have held up.

The murder charge, stemming from the April 1 death of 39-year-old DeAndre Fortson, was dismissed a week before the preliminary exam pending further investigation, said Assistant Prosecutor Maria Miller. Detroit police are continuing to investigate the case, she said.

McClinton's attorney, Gabi Silver, said she did not think the murder case against McClinton was credible. There were a lot of problems with the case, she said, and rather than moving forward with it, prosecutors did the right thing and sent it back for further investigation.

The other case that was dismissed was a non-fatal shooting from April 9, Miller said. The witness claimed no knowledge of the shooting at the preliminary exam and the case was dismissed. Silver said there wasn't any identification of McClinton as the shooter, which is a critical element of proving the crime.

McClinton did have one non-fatal shooting case that was found to have enough evidence to stand trial. He is accused of shooting a 19-year-old Oak Park man on April 15 near Randolph and Congress streets in Greektown in Detroit.

He remains in custody at the Wayne County Jail on $1 million bond, Miller said.

kberg@detroitnews.com