Two men have been convicted of murder in the January shooting deaths of two men outside a mid-Michigan Walmart store. Otis Smith Jr. and Anthony Holloway, both of Grand Rapids, were convicted Monday in Shiawassee County Circuit Court in the deaths of 31-year-old Joseph Michael Carson and 39-year-old Anthony Lee Hammond, both of Flint.
Their bodies were found in a car at the store's parking lot in Caledonia Township. Sentencing is scheduled for December. Authorities say the slayings stemmed from a deal to sell marijuana that was arranged online via Craigslist. Attorneys for Smith and Holloway argued that the shootings were in self-defense.
Erin Marie Mongar of Grand Rapids earlier pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against her co-defendants. Police say Mongar drove the getaway car.
