Attorney granted delay in Warren triple-slaying case

A 37-year-old West Bloomfield Township man charged in three execution-style slayings this month, including a 6-year-old boy, had a brief probable cause hearing Thursday in Warren's 37th District Court that was adjourned into next year at the request of his attorney.

Judge John M. Chmura conducted the virtual hearing for Nicholas Raad Bahri, who appeared via video from the Macomb County Jail, where he is held without bond in the deaths of Tukoyo Moore, 31; Moore's girlfriend, Isis Rimson, 28; and Moore's son, Tai’raz Moore, 6, all of Warren.

Rimson and Tai'raz were found shot to death Oct. 1 in the basement of Moore's home on the 2200 block of Otis. Warren police went to the residence hours after Detroit officers found Moore's burned body in the rear seat of a rented vehicle on Detroit's east side; he had been shot in the head.

 Bahri's court appointed attorney, Randy Rodnick, sought the adjournment to obtain copies of investigative reports, videos and other materials that police allege link Bahri to the slayings.

In addition, "I need permission to visit the home before it is rented out to someone else," Rodnick told Chmura.

Rodnick also asked for copies of all fingerprint and DNA records and reports; phone records and video footage — including from a gas station where Bahri allegedly purchased gasoline to burn the rental car, and from the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit.

Rodnick also wants shell casings believed to be from the weapon used in the slayings and asked that the phones found in his client's possession be returned to their owners, Bahri's parents.

Rodnick said gathering the information has been time-consuming because multiple police agencies in several counties have participated in the investigation, including the FBI.

After Bahri told Chmura he understood and agreed with the delay, Chmura adjourned the hearing until Jan. 7 and ordered Bahri remanded to the Macomb County Jail.

Police theorize the killings stemmed from a falling-out between Bahri and Moore over drug dealing. Police found $40,000 in a safe and a small quantity of drugs hidden in the attic of the ransacked home on Otis.

“This was all over drugs and money,” Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer said when charges were filed against Bahri. 

Bahri was arrested Oct. 9 at his parents' West Bloomfield home. He has an extensive criminal record, including a conviction for drug possession, and had been released from prison just two months earlier.

Rodnick has filed requests for more discovery in the case to prepare for a preliminary examination for his client. He asked Thursday that the exam scheduled for next week be adjourned.

Investigators conducted more than 20 interviews and the probe turned toward Bahri, whose past convictions out of Wayne and Oakland counties date to 2004 and include cocaine and heroin possession, breaking and entering, and fleeing and eluding a police officer.

 “Violent acts in the drug-dealing trade is not new,” said Dwyer, who headed the Detroit police narcotics investigation unit for several years before moving on to become chief of departments in Farmington Hills and Warren.

“But killing a baby, a 6-year-old, has shaken not just the tri-county area but has shocked the nation ... only monsters or Godless creatures would pull the trigger on a 6-year-old.”

Bahri is charged with 15 counts, including three charges of premeditated homicide and related weapons and arson offenses.

Dwyer has said because of the seriousness of the crimes — especially the killing of the boy — Bahri deserved to be charged under federal offenses that theoretically could result in a death penalty upon conviction.

mmartindale@detroitnews.com

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