Grand Rapids man accused in double-homicide had parking lot argument with one sufferer, records show

By Stone Andrews Last updated Jan 17, 2023

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A parking lot argument is believed to have preceded a double-fatal June shooting in Grand Rapids that left two 58-year-old men dead.

Deiontreay Darrell Craft, 25, is accused of two counts of open murder in the deaths of Freddie James Lusk Jr. and Tony Dwayne Vaughn. He is scheduled for a probable cause hearing Wednesday, Jan. 18 in Grand Rapids District Court.

The shooting happened June 23 and police sought warrants against Craft in December.

Lusk and Vaughn were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the 800 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Street SE about 2:35 on June 23.

Grand Rapids police located surveillance video from the BP gas station at 802 Martin Luther King Jr. Street and it showed both Lusk and Vaughn were in the BP parking lot that night.

Police, in a probable cause affidavit, also said it appeared Lusk argued with a man wearing a backpack and black ski mask. The footage showed the then-unidentified man was carrying a handgun in his waistband.

Lusk and Vaughn moved to the south end of the BP lot and the backpack-wearing man followed them.

Police said that Lusk “has another face-to-face interaction” with the man before they all exit the camera’s view to the east. The shooting happened minutes later, the police wrote in the affidavit.

Detectives also said a witness reporting seeing a person, wearing a ski mask and backpack, running away from the shooting scene.

Investigators at some point identified Craft as the person who wore the ski mask and backpack that night.

Craft is a convicted felon, police said, and cannot legally possess a firearm.