Ex-Detroit police officer charged with manslaughter after striking 70-year-old man

A former Detroit police officer has been charged with manslaughter after he struck a 70-year-old man earlier this year.

A verbal altercation between Daryl Vance and Officer Juwan Marquise-Alexander Brown escalated to the victim being punched in the face, causing him to collapse and hit his head on the pavement. He later died from his injuries.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner determined Vance's death was caused by blunt force trauma to his head from the punch.

Brown, 29, who has since been fired by the Detroit Police Department, was in court Wednesday for an arraignment in the 36th District Court. He pleaded not guilty and was given a $100,000 personal bond.

The incident happened on Sept. 1, 2023 at around 6:50 p.m. 

Vance was in front of a bowling alley in the 4100 block of Woodward Avenue when 911 was called to report he was being disorderly. After the fight, medics arrived and took Vance to the hospital for treatment. 

He was pronounced dead on Sept. 21.

"I instantly started praying. Praying for my uncle, going to see him at the hospital," said Mecca Banks, Vance's niece. "My brother and my sister-in-law, my auntie, we went to see him at the hospital, by his side, just really wanted to know what happened."

"I'm not a judge, I'm not a jury, I can't say what I would like, but I know what God can do. God is a fixer of most and everything, so he's going to fix this, he's going to work it out," she added. "I trust God's going to do that."