Police: Slain player targeted because of clothes

12/11/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • E-Michigan-Player-Slain-3

    Kristopher Pratt, 20, of Detroit, a suspect in the shooting death of Eastern Michigan football player Demarius Reed, walks into the courtroom before a preliminary examination at district court in Pittsfield Township, Mich., on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. The hearing was adjourned until January, 2014.(AP Photo/AnnArbor.com, Melanie Maxwell) LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    • YPSILANTI, Mich. — Police say an Eastern Michigan University football player killed during a possible robbery may have been targeted because he had on expensive-looking clothing.

    The Ann Arbor News reports the detail is in transcripts from a hearing in the case that it reviewed.

    Preliminary examinations for 20-year-old Ed J. Thomas and 19-year-old Kristopher K. Pratt are scheduled for Jan. 17. They face murder charges in the fatal shooting of Demarius Reed.

    The wide receiver’s roommate discovered his body at the bottom of a stairwell at an off-campus apartment complex on Oct. 18. Police say Reed’s wallet and cellphone were taken.

    Reed was a 20-year-old communications major from Chicago.

    The school announced plans Tuesday to hire a total of 10 new full-time police officers by September 2014 to boost off-campus patrols.