Killing Suspect Who Avoided Jail by Becoming DEA Informant Gave No Useful Information

Kenyel Brown
Detroit Police Department

The suspect in a string of murders that left six dead in three cities was released under federal supervision because the government wanted to hire him as an informant for the ATF, the DEA, and the Detroit Police Task Force.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon that the suspect, Kenyel Brown, supplied information to the ATF and that many of the crimes that occurred before the alleged murders took place while he was on supervised release, WXYZ reported.

Craig said that after Brown was an informant for the ATF, a Detroit police officer assigned to a DEA task force recruited Brown to be an informant for the task force on gangs and drugs. It also happened to be the same day Brown was released from supervised release on October 29, 2019.

The police chief said Brown’s information was used once, and the agency paid him $150 for his time. Craig said Brown’s tip did not provide to be of use to the authorities.

According to Craig, there was a miscommunication between the agencies about Brown’s past crimes while still under federal supervision.

When the department learned he was a double-murder suspect in River Rouge, the Detroit police immediately deactivated his status as an informant with the department. He was also named a person of interest in murders in Detroit and Highland Park.

The bloodshed ended on February 24, when Brown fired a single, fatal gunshot to his head, the Detroit Free-Press reported.

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