Van Buren Township suspect found guilty in murder case

VAN BUREN TWP., Mich. (FOX 2) - A man was found guilty of the murder of a mother and daughter in Van Buren Township. Meanwhile, days after a jury returned that verdict, FOX 2 heard from the father of the 14-year-old victim.

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Daraca Leatherberry and her mother were found dead in their apartment in Van Buren Township back in July 2021. Then on Halloween, a jury found the suspect guilty of two counts of murder in the first degree.

That suspect, 52-year-old Lionel Vincent, was the prime suspect from the very beginning. Back on July 25, Carl Leatherberry was out of town attending his grandmother’s funeral when he got a call that his daughter Daraca and her mother, Yachanda Snipes, were found dead inside their home at the Belleville Pointes Apartment Complex.

Leatherberry would find out at trial that they were both stabbed to death, more than 15 times each. Detectives were able to place Vincent at the scene of the crime thanks to a GPS tether he was court-ordered to wear due to a parole from a previous conviction.

Leatherberry said prior to these double murders, he had never heard of Lionel Vincent before, finding out that Yachanda had been dating him for a short while prior to the crime.

After four years of waiting, he is finally seeing an end to this chapter of his life.

"When I heard that it was my daughter after losing my wife and grandmother, the whole life was just dragged out of that moment, and praying and staying keeping my faith strong," said Leatherberry. "It’s all I really had, and so I started cooking. I got in the kitchen, and I’ve started cooking and cooking in the kitchen all the time, and knowing that they love me doing that is what really kept me going inside."

What's next:

Carl is now a professional chef, putting that passion to work for him.

Vincent is scheduled to be formally sentenced in Wayne County Circuit on Nov. 24.