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Witnesses detail company CEO shooting at sister after firing her, daughter

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Skip to contentBy | jcook@medianewsgroup.com | Macomb DailyTwo witnesses testified a Sterling Heights business CEO pulled out his handgun first, and one of them said he shot first when he gunned down and killed his sister during a parking-lot shoot-out moments after he fired the pair from their jobs.Zachary Holtson III, 50, of Farmington Hills, was bound over Tuesday to Macomb County Circuit Court by Judge Annemarie Lepore of 41A District Court on a charge of second-degree murder following a preliminary hearing for the slaying last May of his sister, Rita Evans, 54, in the parking lot of Regal Palace Industries at 19 Mile and Mound roads, where Evans was the CFO.Lepore maintained the murder charge despite arguments from Holston’s attorney, Gerald Evelyn, the case should be dismissed because his client shot in self defense. The judge also rejected the plea for a reduced charge of manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison while second-degree murder can lead to life in prison“Or in the alternative, this occurred in the heat of passion, hot blood,” and Holston could be charged with manslaughter, Evelyn contended.Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Jeff Plymile countered the argument by saying: “He pulls his gun out first, he fires first, and appears to be firing a lot more rounds even as he is falling away.”An exact number of shots was not revealed, and the attorneys agreed Evans died from a shot to her chest that hit her lung and heart, based on an Oakland County Medical Examiner’s report.Lepore, who delayed her ruling for 45 minutes, did not elaborate on her decision.Holston, who is free after posting a $500,000 bond, faces an Oct. 15 circuit court arraignment in front of Judge Michael Servitto.Testifying at the hearing was Evans’ husband, Maurice Evans, and daughter, Deja Lee, both of whom said the shooting occurred seconds after a minimal physical altercation between the two escalated at 9 a.m. May 26 near Holston’s pickup truck in the Regal Palace parking lot.When Rita Evans tried to reach into the front passenger side of Holston’s white F-450 to grab some papers he had just put in the vehicle, Holston body blocked her, and she body bumped him back, according to the testimony.“He pushed her. She pushed him,” Evans testified.Holston closed the door, backed away and pulled out his gun, he went on to say.“I said, ‘what’s going on?’” Evans said.“He pulled out his gun and pointed it,” he said. “Pow. Pow. Pow. Pow.”He said he knew Holston fired first because he was in front of him while his wife was to his left side, and if she had shot first, he would have heard the rounds come from that spot.“I got behind his truck. I took cover,” he said. “I remember my wife shooting into the air, falling to the ground.”Lee, meanwhile, who wept several times during her testimony, said she was standing between the two saying, “Whoa” and trying to calm Holston down when he pulled out the gun.Her mother retrieved her handgun from her purse that she had put down, and “drew her weapon as well,” she said.“I was shocked. I heard a bunch of shots,” she said. “I don’t know who shot first. She fell to the ground. He (Holson) was standing there with a shocked look on his face.”In the video, she is seen rushing toward him. He stumbles backward to the ground, gets up and walks away before it is believed her got into a woman’s car, which drove away.&nbsp;Lee said she went to her mother on the ground and talked to her, but “blood was everywhere” and she wasn’t breathing. Lee said she called 911 and performed CPR until paramedics arrived.Lee and Evans both testified they had received separate phone calls minutes earlier from Rita Evans, who told her husband “some crazy stuff was going on” at the business and told her daughter she planned to have a discussion with her brother that morning.The day before, Holston told Maurice Evans he had to remove his landscaping truck and trailer he stored at the business.“He said Rita and Deja no longer worked there, so I need you to get your stuff out of here,” Evans testified. “He said, ‘Whatever happens, I love you, brother.’”Rita Evans told her daughter Holston had changed the door locks at the business.On the day of incident, Lee said he arrived at 8:30 a.m. and retrieved his landscaping truck and and trailer from the parking lot and had driven away “to start my day” when he got the “frantic call” from his wife. He returned to Regal Palace, where he met Rita, who arrived in her 2022 Cadillac Escalade. They went to the door, which was locked, and Maurice Evans knocked and rang the doorbell, he said.Holston, carrying a stack of papers, exited and shut the door behind him. Evans said he was walking with his wife and Holston toward his truck as the two were arguing, with Hoslton telling her she and Deja were fired. Holston placed the documents on the passenger seat in his vehicle just before the altercation started.As Lee arrived in the parking lot in her vehicle, Holston, who was on foot, stopped her and told her through her open window he had “something” to give to her before she parked and exited her vehicle.During cross examination of Evans, Holston’s attorney, Evelyn, suggested Rita Evans was being fired due to “financial improprieties” but did not elaborate.Holston is the married father of two and a former reserve police officer in Detroit and Royal Oak Township.Regal Palace, formed in 2008 by Holston’s father, makes hand soap and other products.Enjoy it while it lasts because the weather’s changingCrumbley’s parents cleared to stand trial by Michigan Supreme CourtTrial underway for woman accused of driving into charity bicyclists, killing two — including Oakland County attorney Mike Salhaney‘He knows’: Jared Goff remaining aggressive, despite interceptionsOrchard Lake St. Mary’s making history on the soccer pitchMan known for pursuing sexual predators shot to death in Oakland County restaurantHomeowners finding unexpected challenges in raising chickens in Oakland CountyMost Popular

Skip to contentBy | jcook@medianewsgroup.com | Macomb DailyTwo witnesses testified a Sterling Heights business CEO pulled out his handgun first, and one of them said he shot first when he gunned down and killed his sister during a parking-lot shoot-out moments after he fired the pair from their jobs.Zachary Holtson III, 50, of Farmington Hills, was bound over Tuesday to Macomb County Circuit Court by Judge Annemarie Lepore of 41A District Court on a charge of second-degree murder following a preliminary hearing for the slaying last May of his sister, Rita Evans, 54, in the parking lot of...

Witnesses detail company CEO shooting at sister after firing her, daughter

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