The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office announced the Kayvon Briscoe-Hall murder conviction on 14 July 2026, after a jury sitting in the Macomb County Circuit Court returned guilty verdicts on one count each of second-degree murder and felony firearm in connection with the killing of 63-year-old Roger Willie.
The jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding Briscoe-Hall, 21, guilty. The five-day trial had begun on 7 July 2026 before Judge Kathryn Viviano, according to Legal News.
The Kayvon Briscoe-Hall Murder Conviction: What the Jury Heard
The fatal shooting took place on 2 October 2025 at the couple’s shared home on Marr Avenue in Warren, Michigan, an inner-ring suburb of Detroit. Warren police were dispatched following a report of a shooting and found Willie unresponsive on the floor, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds.
Officers attempted lifesaving measures before Willie was taken to Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, where he died.
Briscoe-Hall and Willie had been in a romantic relationship and had lived together since 2023, having met on a dating app. The age gap between the two men was 42 years.
At trial, the prosecution argued the shooting was premeditated in character. Assistant prosecutor Maria Panchenko told the jury the final altercation was ‘not like any other argument.’ According to the Macomb Daily, she told jurors: ‘The defendant tried to antagonize Roger, baited him, goaded him because he wanted to get his way.’
Prosecutors reconstructed the sequence of events as follows. During the argument, Briscoe-Hall retreated into the bedroom and shouted at Willie to ‘Get out.’ Willie entered. Briscoe-Hall fired three shots; the final two struck the victim. Panchenko conceded that Briscoe-Hall had asked Willie not to enter but held that provided no legal basis for lethal force. ‘It’s a shared room,’ she told the jury. ‘Roger didn’t listen.’
The state also pointed to evidence of a broader pattern of conduct. A next-door neighbour testified that in the months before the shooting, Briscoe-Hall had become increasingly hostile toward Willie, with incidents including screaming, slamming doors, and inflicting a gash on Willie’s forehead. Willie’s brother, Larry Wille, also testified at trial, appearing alongside a photograph of the deceased.
The prosecution’s most striking piece of circumstantial evidence came from August 2025. The neighbour testified that he overheard Briscoe-Hall, who was at home alone, tell someone on the phone: ‘Oooooo girl, this is all going to be mine soon.’ The remark, made roughly two months before the shooting, was central to the state’s theory that Briscoe-Hall had a financial or proprietary motive.
Sentence and Exposure Under Michigan Law
Briscoe-Hall’s defence attorney, Grace Crivello, had urged the jury to consider whether the shooting might have been a reaction to a perceived threat rather than an intentional killing, though no formal self-defence argument was entered. ‘You have to determine, in that particular situation, were these actions justified, or was it intentional?’ she asked jurors. ‘Was it a murder, or a reaction to a perceived threat?’
The jury rejected that framing in full.
Under Michigan’s second-degree murder statute, Briscoe-Hall faces up to life in prison on the murder count. The felony firearm conviction carries a mandatory two-year term, which must be served consecutively to the sentence imposed for the underlying murder charge, rather than concurrently. The combination means any prison term imposed at sentencing will be at least two years longer than whatever the court sets for the murder count alone.
Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido’s office called the verdict a just outcome for Willie’s family. Sentencing before Judge Viviano is scheduled for 19 August 2026, according to the Detroit News.
Subject to any post-conviction motions, the sentencing hearing will determine whether Briscoe-Hall receives a minimum term below the statutory maximum or a term that leaves open the prospect of parole eligibility only after a lengthy period of incarceration. Michigan’s sentencing guidelines will frame the range Judge Viviano is asked to consider.
