Grandmother of Slain West Bloomfield Teen Due in Court
Sandra Layne, who admittedly told police that she killed her grandson, Jonathan Hoffman will be in court Monday morning.
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Sandra Layne, 74, a former schoolteacher, has an exam scheduled at 48th District Court in front of Judge Kimberly Small Monday at 11 a.m.
West Bloomfield Police detectives said that Layne admitted killing her 17-year-old grandson, Jonathan Hoffman, on May 18. Hoffman, a senior at Farmington Central alternative high school, was shot multiple times in the condominium he shared with Layne and her husband in the Maple Place Villas complex, on the 6000 block of Brookview Lane.
Layne faces a charge of open murder and felony firearms possession.
On May 24, Small had granted the prosecution a delay in the preliminary exam to allow for a test of competency.
If bound over by a district court judge, a circuit court judge will determine whether she should face first-or second-degree murder. If convicted, the mother of five could be sentenced to life in prison.
Dramatic testimony from Detective Brad Boulet described Hoffman's plea for help to a 911 operator after being shot in the chest, as well as Layne's response to police.
"The subject stated that his grandma had just shot him in the chest and that he was going to die and he pleaded for help," Boulet testified in front of Judge Marc Barron. "At approximately the three-minute mark of the 911 call, the subject screamed and exclaimed he had just been shot again."
Boulet continued that as officers arrived, they heard several more gunshots before Layne came out and exclaimed that she had "murdered her grandson."
In This article
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West Bloomfield Police Department
4530 Walnut Lake Rd, West Bloomfield, MI -
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48th District Court, State of Michigan
4280 Telegraph Rd, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Debbie Thomas
3:28 pm on Monday, July 2, 2012
Let the old lady go. This is a family matter, not a legal matter. I suspect the parents are getting very bad civil law advice: convict the old lady and get a pile of cash from the homeowners insurance. That won't solve anything. If you ask me everyone in this family--all adults--bears some responsibility that this teen was out of control. An example: this kid under probation was allowed to tool around the community in his own car. Huh?
Eric F
3:36 pm on Wednesday, July 4, 2012
It stopped being an internal family matter when the shooting occurred. That makes it a potential crime and a matter for the state to investigate and if approprite to prosecute. How does shooting someone when they are down and calling the police constitue self defense? If the grandmother felt threatened by the grandson's drug use why did she not just kick him out of her house or call the police herself and have them remove him? This will be an uphill battle for the defense!