Detroit grandfather killed in home invasion struggle on east side

DETROIT (WJBK) - A deadly home invasion on Detroit's east side leaves a grandfather dead after he walked in on the burglars. 

Victim Jesse Lovett is remembered for how he loved his grandchildren, his jokes and storytelling. But now his large family is without the 52-year-old.

"They put a dent in our family," his niece said. 

Lovett was shot and killed in his Detroit home on Chalmers. A friend discovering his body early Monday morning.  Lovett was shot to death.

"Anything anybody wanted he would give it to them," his niece said. "He was a nice person."

Lovett's family says the father and grandfather had a specific morning routine.

"He went to the gas station to play his lottery, and get his coffee that he (did) every day," his sister said.

They say Lovett usually made his way several blocks to a gas station at Jefferson and Alter. But this day Lovett returned home to people inside. Detroit police are unsure who, but discovered possible evidence of a break-in, and an obvious struggle.
 
"They tried to rob him," his sister said. "They didn't find any money. They stabbed him and shot him twice in the head."

Detroit police don't have a whole lot to go on, but believe Lovett's killers may have known him. His family agrees.

"many times our victims fall prey to people they know," said a police investigator.

Lovett's family says he had a lucky reputation in the neighborhood, playing the lottery daily and they say, winning often.

"He hit the lottery every week," his sister said. "He would go to the casino and he hit. And they waited for my brother, thinking he had some money on him and they tried to rob him."

Detroit police are working to pull surveillance video from the Green Light gas station where Lovett was last seen, adding that they don't know if the person or persons who killed Lovett, are male or female or black or white. But say, they believe his killer may have been cut during that struggle.

"If anyone knows anybody that has shown up as of 7 or 8 o'clock this morning with some cuts to their body to please let the Detroit Police Department know," the DPD detective said.

Call Detroit police at (313) 596-5200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.