Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad says justice must still be served in the case of Eric McGinnis. Speaking at the Berrien County Courthouse this week, Muhammad responded to the Michigan Attorney General’s request for the cold case to be closed after the AG last month determined the death of 16-year-old McGinnis in 1991 was a murder. The reopened investigation found McGinnis drowned in the St. Joseph River after being chased on to the pier in St. Joseph by some teens. Muhammad said there are similarities in the case to that of Ahmaud Arbery.
“Wherein Georgia, it was three men that chased Ahmaud Arbery and murdered him, in Berrien County, it was five men, according to the attorney general’s report, that chased Eric McGinnis and murdered him.”
Muhammad said the community is grateful Attorney General Dana Nessel found the truth in the McGinnis case, but to declare the death a homicide and simply close it is not enough.
“If Black life mattered, then we wouldn’t have to say it, but in this particular case, I have to ask you did Eric’s Life matter? It did. But to those in power, justice did not matter.”
Muhammad called for the resignation of Judge Dennis Wiley, who was the county prosecutor at the time of the McGinnis murder. Police at the time determined the death had been an accidental drowning. Muhammad also said the case should be treated as a hate crime and authorities who looked the other way should be held accountable. He wore a red suit while speaking to symbolize the blood of Eric McGinnis.
