A Michigan man who was charged last month with torture and sexual assault against his then-girlfriend is accused of murdering her and his stepfather two days after he was released on bond, authorities said.
23-year-old Jonathan Welch is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and other felonies related to the deaths of 22-year-old Zlayiah Frazier and 70-year-old Robert Bray Jr. and the non-fatal stabbing of his mother on Sunday, July 10, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office announced. He is also accused of firing gunshots at police and setting his mother’s house on fire during a standoff.
Welch is also charged with multiple violent crimes stemming from an alleged sexual assault and torture of Frazier on June 2 at their Detroit home. The hours-long torture involved strangling the victim with an extension cord, pouring gasoline over her body, attempting to sexually assault her with a large pole and burning her arms and legs with a metal spatula, beat her with his belt and threatened her with a drill. At the time, Frazier and Welch resided together with their 1-year-old son.
Welch had posted a $10,000 bond in June 2 case on Friday, July 8. He was released from Wayne County Jail to house arrest with a GPS tether at his mother’s home, which is where the July 10 incident occurred.
At 8:14 p.m. on Sunday, July 10, at the defendant’s mother’s home in the 20640 block of Kenosha Street in Harper Woods, it is alleged that Welch stabbed his mother in the back multiple times with a butcher knife and killed Frazier and Bray with blunt force trauma.
Harper Woods police were called to the scene and set up a perimeter around the home. While setting up the perimeter, officers found the defendant’s 1-year-old son in the backyard. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Welch allegedly barricaded himself in the home and fired multiple gunshots at officers. The standoff went on for several hours. Eventually, the defendant allegedly started a fire inside the home and then appeared in the front doorway. Officers apprehended him, and he was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Firefighters extinguished the fire.
Defendant Welch was arraigned Wednesday in 32A District Court and remanded to jail on two counts of first-degree murder, four counts of assault with intent to murder, one count of second-degree arson, seven counts of felonious assault, and six counts of felony firearm.
The probable cause conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, and the preliminary examination is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27, both before Judge Rebekah Coleman.
Welch was charged in the initial case on June 12 with torture, using a harmful device to cause personal injury, first-degree home invasion, third-degree criminal sexual conduct and assault with intent to commit penetration, assault with intent to do great bodily harm and three counts of felonious assault. Magistrate Dawn White set bond at $100,000/10% cash/surety.
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