Police: Roseville man beat roommate to death over Taco Bell

Stolen Taco Bell leads to beating death of man by roommate, says police

This home may look peaceful, but on Wednesday night it was anything but. There was a murder over Taco Bell. A 72-year-old man is dead, and his roommate, now behind bars.

FOX 2 (WJBK) - A Roseville man is facing life in prison after beating his 72-year-old roommate to death in fight over food from Taco Bell, police say.

Mark Newsome, 54, is accused of getting into an argument with his roommate inside a boarding house over the fast food, in the 27000 block of Waldorf Street on Jan. 31. The fatal beating took the life of the victim, identified as Dale Mitchell.

Investigators say that Newsome punched Mitchell several times in the head. The older man died from his injuries.

"Oh God it scared the hell out of me, it really did," their roommate Bob McQuade said.

"There was blood all over upstairs," added their roommate Larry Melton.

They said it stemmed from when Newsome accused Mitchell of stealing his Taco Bell.

"To think a fight over food would escalate into murder," said McQuade, roommate. "It’s inconceivable."

Bob and Larry say - they were trying to sleep when the fight broke out at their boarding home. Then they heard voices.

""Why are you doing this?'" Melton said. "'Why are you doing this? Leave me alone. Quit, please quit.' that’s what I heard."

"It’s just senseless," McQuade said. "I trusted Mark as my friend. I could never believe he would’ve done something like that."

Newsome is being charged with Second Degree Murder, a life felony.

If we've come to grips with life about fighting and killing somebody over a taco or food itself, there’s gotta be more to life than that," said Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido. "It would have been a lot easier to walk away."