A 25-year-old Michigan man who police say shot and killed a 65-year-old woman after she opened her front door in Grand rapids has been found guilty of murder.
Andre Demitris Sims was found guilty Wednesday, June 1 of first-degree murder, felony firearm and being a felon in possession of ammunition following a jury trial.
Sims was accused of killing Sandra Kay Carter at her two-family home on Alpine Avenue NW, just north of Leonard Street, about 11:45 p.m. Jan. 3, 2021.
Police said he came to the house looking for Carter’s grandson.
Testimony showed the grandson had been with Sims and another man earlier in the evening when an altercation occurred. The grandson wrestled a gun away from Sims, then went to his grandmother’s house.
Before the shooting, the grandson was with another man who was driving a Dodge Durango. They picked up Sims later. He sat in back.
At some point, Sims allegedly showed a handgun. The grandson told police he felt threatened.
He got out of the Durango and ran to his grandmother’s house, police said in a probable-cause affidavit.
About an hour later, the grandson told police, he was in the kitchen when he heard a man at the front door ask for him. Then, he heard two gunshots.
He found his grandmother on the dining-room floor.
He identified the voice at the door as that of Sims.
Surveillance video showed a man fitting Sims’ description get out of the Durango and walk toward the victim’s home. Minutes later, the man is seen running back to the Durango and fleeing, police said.
Two days later, police arrested Sims on a parole warrant. While in the Kent County Correction Facility, Sims called his brother in a call monitored by Grand Rapids police detectives.
Police said Sims told his brother to go to their sister’s home. During another call, police believed that Sims was directing her to dispose of evidence. Police rushed to the scene and stopped the brother’s car.
Inside the vehicle, police found a .45-caliber handgun wrapped in a pillow case, duct tape and plastic bags in a box, police said.
The gun was later tied to the shooting. Police also also found two spent shell casings from a .45-calber gun at the scene, police said.
During the trial, Sims represented himself with an attorney on standby to help him.
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