Rating: Transneutral, The Macomb Daily, July 27, 2023 (PDF archive) (HTML archive)
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Macomb County minister pleads guilty to fatally shooting transgender woman – Macomb Daily
A Macomb County minister pleaded guilty Thursday to fatally shooting a transgender woman in a Detroit neighborhood five years ago.
Albert Weathers, 50, of Sterling Heights, entered a guilty plea in Wayne County Circuit Court for second-degree murder and felony firearm in connection to the shooting death of Kelly Stough.
There was a dispute over whether the incident was a robbery or was an accident. Either way, Weathers faces up to eight years in prison on the murder charge and two years for the firearm charge, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
“Today, yet another step was taken to protect our trans community members,” said Prosecutor Kym Worthy. “(Stough) will not be forgotten. She mattered. We will continue to aggressively prosecute those who bring harm to this and other Wayne County communities.”
Authorities said the victim’s mother agreed to the verdict and was grateful for a resolution in the case.
“This guilty plea hopefully brings a long-awaited sense of closure to the family and friends of Kelly Stough,” said Alanna Maguire, president of the Fair Michigan Justice Project.
Maguires said the guilty plea “demonstrates a firm commitment to justice” from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and the FMJP team.
FMJP is a program that assists Michigan law enforcement officers and prosecutors in solving serious crimes against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender persons.
According to police and prosecutors, Weathers encountered Stough on the morning of Dec. 7, 2018, on East McNichols Road at Brush Street where he shot and killed her. Police charged Weathers with open murder.
Weathers, pastor of Logos Church in Detroit, told police that he shot Stough, also known as Keanna Mattel, in self-defense but also said the shooting was accidental.
After initially telling investigators “I was protecting myself” when he shot Stough, the pastor later said the incident was accidental, saying the weapon “went off by mistake.”
Stough died of a single gunshot wound in her left underarm, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office.
According to Weathers, he grabbed his .40-caliber Glock because Stough jumped into his car and demanded cash. He said he told her to leave his car, but Stough came at him with a sharp metal object.
Prosecutors said the pastor knew Stough and had frequented the area where the shooting took place. The area of McNichols and Woodward is an area frequented by sex workers and their customers.
Self-proclaimed sex workers testified during Weathers’ preliminary hearing that he routinely sought out “dates” in the Six Mile and Woodward area, but that often gave them the runaround when it was time for them to be paid.
After the shooting, Weathers went on to his job in downtown Detroit as a security guard for the Great Lakes Water Authority. About an hour later, he later called to report the incident as a robbery and shooting.
Sentencing will be held for Sept, 8 before Judge Bridget Hathaway.
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