Welfare check leads to murder investigation • At-home aide accused of stealing $26K • Gun reform vote expected

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - A welfare check late Monday led to a murder investigation in Ypsilanti Township.

A family member called for a check on 48-year-old Alyson Doulos because they hadn't heard from her "in quite some time," said Derrick Jackson, with the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies went to Doulos' home at Schooner Cove Apartments, where they found her dead. Investigators say there was no sign of forced entry and no reports of any struggle or loud noises from those living nearby. However, the death is suspicious.

"There were suspicious circumstances," Jackson said. "There's not enough information for me to release at this point, but we don’t believe the public is in any danger, so we want to stress that."

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 734-971-8400.

Gun reform vote expected

The Michigan Senate is expected to pass a package of bills that would change gun laws.

This 11-bill package was introduced after the Michigan State University shooting. Highlights include red flag laws, universal background checks, and safe storage requirements.

If passed, background checks would be required to purchase all firearms, not just handguns. Gun owners would also be required to store firearms locked up away from children.

More: Gun legislation enters the arena in Lansing 

Red flag laws are also part of the package. Other states have enacted these laws. Florida passed a law after the Parkland high school shooting in 2018, while Maine has a "yellow flag" law that requires a medical professional to sign off before guns are removed. 

Man who shot troopers claims he didn't know they were police  

Andre Hardaway is accused of shooting two Michigan State Police troopers before barricading himself in his Detroit home for hours last week.

Hardaway says he didn't know the troopers were police when he shot them. His attorney said police executed a no-knock warrant while doing a weapons investigation, so he didn't know who came inside his home. 

"Our contention is that Mr. Hardaway was fired upon, and he fired in retaliation," said his attorney Darnell Barton.

But body camera footage says otherwise.

"This was not in any way, shape, or form, a no-knock warrant," assistant prosecutor Matthew Penney said. "There were no fewer than seven warnings given that I could hear at various points during the entry - even before the door was breached."

Hardaway’s own wife admitted to investigators she knew police were there, with a warrant, Penney added.

"They were in full uniform that said state police right on the front of it, there could be no confusion on who was in that house and for what purpose they were there," he said.

At-home aide accused of stealing $26K from 91-year-old

A 91-year-old Bloomfield Township woman first realized someone was stealing from her when she noticed numerous checks missing.

While checking her bank account, police say the woman saw her at-home aide, Bryanna Burton, cashing the stolen checks. The victim reported this to police, who investigated and discovered that $26,000 had been stolen this way.

Burton turned herself in last week. She is now charged with two counts of using a computer to commit a crime and six counts of identity theft, and her bond was set at $25,000/10%.

Man still missing after not showing up for mother's memorial

Jihad (Jake) Adnan Nasser hadn't been seen for months when his family reported him missing March 4.

Michigan State Police said Nasser, 26, didn't show up for his mother's memorial service, prompting the missing person report. 

Nasser, 26, is from Clare County in mid-Michigan, but police say he may have family in Dearborn Heights.

Anyone with information is asked to call MSP at 989-773-5951.

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The rain arrives later Thursday and continues into Friday.

What else we're watching

1. A woman accused of fleeing to Thailand after hitting and killing an MSU student in Oakland Township is back in Michigan and will be arraigned Friday.
2. EGLE says fish die-offs near the Ford Lake Dam are not believed to be from waste brought to Michigan from an Ohio train derailment. 
3. Two men are accused of telling a woman she had a flat tire to distract her and steal her purse at a grocery store in Oakland County.   
4. Selfridge Air National Guard Base was not chosen to be home for an F-35 training center.
5. Need St. Patrick's Day plans? Here's what's going on around Metro Detroit.

Pentagon releases video of Russian jet dumping fuel on US drone

The Pentagon has released footage of what it says is a Russian aircraft conducting an unsafe intercept of a U.S. Air Force surveillance drone in international airspace over the Black Sea.

The 42-second video, released Thursday, shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the back of the MQ-9 drone and beginning to release fuel as it passes, the Pentagon said.

The U.S. military said it ditched the MQ-9 Reaper in the sea on Tuesday after the Russian fighter jet poured fuel on the unmanned aerial vehicle, in an apparent attempt to blind its optical instruments and drive it out of the area, and then struck its propeller.