Detroit man charged in November murder, auto theft

Detroit — A 24-year-old Detroit man has been charged in the death of a 44-year-old Detroiter who had been reported missing before he was found fatally shot in a home on the city's east side in November.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Andre Cockerham Jr., 24, with four felonies: first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, armed robbery and unlawfully driving away an automobile.

Police responded about 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 3 in the 16900 block of Carlisle, said Officer Holly Lance, a Detroit Police Department spokeswoman. That's south of East Eight Mile and just west of Kelly.

Police say the family of Andre Buford hadn't heard from him in a few days, went to check on him, and found him deceased. The medical examiner said he died of blunt force head trauma.

His vehicle was also missing.

Wayne County Jail records show Cockerham as an inmate. Court records show Cockerham was sentenced to probation the day before Buford was found, and that he had been released on bond two weeks earlier. Cockerham pleaded guilty to a charge of brandishing a firearm in public, a misdemeanor, in return for prosecutors dropping a carrying concealed weapons charge.

On Friday, Cockerham was arrested for violating the terms of his probation, and sent to Wayne County Jail.