Man, 26, charged in fatal shooting of friend in Eastpointe

Eastpointe — A Detroit man accused of shooting and killing his friend after an argument last weekend has been charged, police said Tuesday.

Gregory John Strickland, 26, was charged Monday in 38th District Court in Eastpointe with first-degree murder, a life felony, using a firearm during a felony, a two-year felony, and concealing the death of an individual, a five-year felony.

A judge ordered him held without bond and scheduled his next court appearance, a probable cause conference, for Dec. 7.

Officials said Eastpointe police began looking for Strickland after they were contacted Saturday by Detroit police detectives about a vehicle found with a man's body in the backseat.

Detroit police also told their Eastpointe counterparts a man who identified himself as Strickland called them and said he had hurt his friend defending himself in the 22000 block of Firwood near Gratiot and 8 1/2 Mile. 

According to a preliminary investigation, Strickland and the victim, Juwan McCreary, 27, of Detroit, had gone to a home on Firwood early Saturday morning. They were in the home for a few minutes and an argument began between them, police said. The fight continued out into the street where McCreary’s vehicle was parked. Detectives said it's unclear why the two were arguing.

After some pushing and shoving between the two men, investigators said, Strickland pulled out a gun and shot McCreary six times. Strickland allegedly then placed McCreary in his own vehicle's rear seat before driving away.

Police said Strickland may have been driving McCreary to a hospital, but instead decided to abandon the vehicle. He then walked home and called police, they said.

Officers arrested Strickland without incident and took him to the Eastpointe Police Department.

Investigators executed a search warrant at Strickland’s Detroit home and recovered evidence linking him to the shooting, they said.

cramirez@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @CharlesERamirez