Detroit News 9/26/2026

A 42-year-old Detroit man is charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the killing of Chipotle worker Jaquoya Wix, and court records show he had been ordered into mental health treatment in July. The city adds background checks for developers seeking tax breaks, Comerica Park becomes Fifth Third Park in 2027, and Brush Street reopens in Greektown. Rain arrives Wednesday, Sept. 30, after a dry start. Comments are open below.

The Weather: Dry and Near 77 Early, Then Rain From Wednesday

Monday, Sept. 28, and Tuesday, Sept. 29, are the week's warmest days at 77°. Sunday through Tuesday are dry. Drizzle arrives Wednesday, Sept. 30 (0.27 inches) and continues Thursday, Oct. 1 (0.20 inches). Friday, Oct. 2, brings the heaviest rain, 1.38 inches on a 41% chance, and Saturday, Oct. 3, adds 0.56 inches. Highs hold at 64-65° Thursday and Friday.

The News

Man charged with first-degree murder in killing of Chipotle worker downtown

Devon Watson, 42, of Detroit, was charged Sept. 23 with first-degree premeditated murder in the stabbing death of Jaquoya Wix, 34, who was on a break from her job at the Chipotle on Woodward Avenue when she was attacked Sunday, Sept. 20, in an alley near Woodward Avenue and East Congress Street. WDIV, citing Detroit police, reported the attack happened at about 2:30 p.m.; FOX 2's first report said Sunday evening. Wix ran to a nearby business and collapsed, and was pronounced dead at Detroit Receiving Hospital. A worker at a nearby business chased the attacker while on the phone with police, and officers used surveillance cameras to track Watson to Woodward Avenue and State Street, where he was arrested about 20 minutes after the attack. He was arraigned Sept. 23 and denied bond.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Watson and Wix did not know each other and the attack appeared random, but that her office is confident it can prove premeditation. “Just because someone may have mental health issues, doesn't mean they're not acutely responsible for their actions,” she said.

Court records obtained by WDIV show a nurse petitioned Wayne County Probate Court on July 3 to have Watson hospitalized after police brought him to Corewell Health Trenton's emergency room, and that on July 13 a judge ordered him into treatment at Havenwyck Hospital in Auburn Hills, with outpatient treatment to follow. Under that order, a provider was required to file a form confirming a treatment plan, which lets the court monitor compliance; retired Wayne County Probate Judge Milton Mack told WDIV the form was never filed. James E. White, CEO of the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, said the network will open an internal investigation. Police Chief Todd Bettison said more officers will patrol downtown, with closer attention to alleys.

“She was a mother, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a friend, a coworker, and her loss leaves a hole in our hearts that can never be filled,” her sister, Alicya Wix, said at a press conference with city officials. Wix leaves a 15-year-old daughter.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4; FOX 2 Detroit; The Detroit News; Deadline Detroit, September 21-26, 2026

Detroit adds background checks for developers seeking tax breaks

Detroit has a new policy requiring criminal and civil background checks for developers and others seeking tax abatements and incentives. Each applicant and its key owners and personnel will be checked for relevant convictions and civil liabilities in certain local jurisdictions over the past five years. Findings, with any mitigating circumstances, go to the relevant city departments and the Law Department, and to City Council members, before the public hearing on the incentive. The policy is modeled on the Michigan Economic Development Corp.'s practice.

Council Member Angela Whitfield Calloway, who took up the issue after a resident raised concerns about someone connected to a tax abatement request, said, “We award tax abatements, tax incentives like we hand out Skittles and Starburst.” Corporation counsel Conrad Mallett called the policy “a reasonable and significant step toward safeguarding the integrity of the City's economic development programs.” The city says prior convictions or civil misconduct do not automatically disqualify an applicant. City Council has the final say on tax abatements and incentives.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, September 23, 2026

Comerica Park will become Fifth Third Park

The Detroit Tigers and Fifth Third announced Monday, Sept. 21, that Comerica Park will be renamed Fifth Third Park, following Fifth Third's acquisition of Comerica. Signage updates roll out during the offseason, with marquee signage installed before the 2027 season. The ballpark opened in 2000. “As a bank with deep roots across Michigan, our job now is to live up to what this place means to Detroit,” said Fifth Third chairman and CEO Tim Spence. Ryan Gustafson, president and CEO of Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, called it “a new chapter in the club's history.”

Source: FOX 2 Detroit; ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, September 21-22, 2026

Brush Street reopens as Greektown redesign nears completion

Brush Street reopened to traffic through Greektown Friday, Sept. 25, a milestone in the Monroe Streetscape Redesign Project, led by the Greektown Neighborhood Partnership and under way since March 2025. The redesign adds wider sidewalks and curbless roads, and several businesses have opened patios for the first time. Owen Burke, owner of Firebird Tavern, said the project is about 90% done and his business saw about half its normal traffic during construction. Omar Mitchell, owner of TABLE No. 2, said the restaurant lost 90% of its business and plans a grand reopening next month. The intersection of Monroe and St. Antoine streets closes Monday, Sept. 28, for about three weeks of repairs; the project is expected to be finished by the end of the fall.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, September 25, 2026

Preserve Detroit asks residents to name historic places worth saving

Preserve Detroit is building a community-based strategy to identify and protect historic sites, and residents can submit photos, addresses and stories about places through its website. It holds public sessions from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Williams Recreation Center, 8431 Rosa Parks Blvd.; Thursday, Oct. 1, at Patton Recreation Center, 2301 Woodmere St.; and Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Heilmann Recreation Center, 19601 Brock Ave. “So much history is tied up into places,” said Jamon Jordan, Detroit's official historian.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, September 21, 2026

Free I Am a Star youth summit comes to the east side Saturday, Oct. 3

MorningStar International holds its annual I Am a Star Youth Summit from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Ford Community Center, 15491 Maddelein St., entering through Door #5. The free event is for ages 9 to 19, and parents, educators and community members may attend. Sessions cover finding a purpose, college and careers, mental health, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and yoga and meditation, with networking, lunch, raffles, T-shirts, and free haircuts and makeup. A $500 scholarship pitch competition is open only to high school seniors and college students, who opt in when registering. Registration is free and closes Wednesday, Sept. 30; details are at reachastar.org or 1-888-323-8003.

Source: Detroit Community Thrive, September 21, 2026

67 Detroiters receive deeds through Land Bank Buy Back program

Sixty-seven residents received deeds Friday, Sept. 25, to Detroit Land Bank Authority homes they had been living in, after completing the Buy Back program, which requires participants to become current on property taxes, complete financial literacy counseling and attend homeownership workshops. “The work is theirs,” said Tammy Daniels, CEO of the Detroit Land Bank Authority. The program has returned deeds to more than 1,400 Detroit residents since it launched.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, September 26, 2026

Metro Detroit

Most Archdiocese of Detroit priests will move to new parishes

Most of the Archdiocese of Detroit's 483 current priests will be reassigned to a new parish under the archdiocese's restructuring, which involves “a large-scale movement of priests, with limited exceptions,” Holly Fournier, associate director of communications for the archdiocese, told The Detroit News in a Sept. 24 email. The archdiocese lists 483 priests among 209 parishes in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, St. Clair and Lapeer counties. The restructuring groups existing parishes into “pastorates,” each led by one pastor, with most also assigned one or more parochial vicars.

In a message sent to parishes for their weekly bulletins, the archdiocese said dioceses that had gone through similar restructurings consistently recommended that all priests move, and that keeping longtime priests in place could make it harder for a new pastor to lead a combined pastorate. Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger and a Priest Missioning Team will decide each assignment, drawing on a survey every priest completed after the restructuring was announced in November 2025. New assignments are expected to be shared in parishes and posted on the archdiocese's website the weekend of April 17-18, 2027, and take effect July 1, 2027, with implementation continuing into July 2028. Weisenburger plans to release a video about the reassignments in mid-October.

Source: The Detroit News, September 25, 2026

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