Demarius Reed Murder Investigation Continues For Eastern Michigan University Football Player

Police: People Walked Past Body Of Slain College Football Player
This undated photo provided by Eastern Michigan University athletics department shows college football player Demarius Reed. Reed was found shot to death early Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, and authorities have launched an off-campus homicide investigation. Ypsilanti Police Sgt. Thomas Eberts tells the Ann Arbor News that a man's body was found in the hallway of an apartment complex about 7:15 a.m. by his roommate. The victim appeared to have been shot to death. (AP Photo/Eastern Michigan University Athletics Department)
This undated photo provided by Eastern Michigan University athletics department shows college football player Demarius Reed. Reed was found shot to death early Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, and authorities have launched an off-campus homicide investigation. Ypsilanti Police Sgt. Thomas Eberts tells the Ann Arbor News that a man's body was found in the hallway of an apartment complex about 7:15 a.m. by his roommate. The victim appeared to have been shot to death. (AP Photo/Eastern Michigan University Athletics Department)

At least one person walked past 20-year-old Demarius Reed, a college football player at Eastern Michigan University, after he was shot and killed inside an off-campus apartment building last Friday.

Some say that a fight broke out in the building's parking lot, and at least six people reported hearing gunshots. But nobody called the police that night.

MLive reports that at least one person, but likely more, passed Reed's "crumpled body," resting on the landing in a stairwell Friday night at the building near the Ypsilanti, Mich. university.

“They thought he was just someone passed out from the party,” Ypsilanti Interim Police Chief Tony DeGiusti told EMU students during a public safety forum Monday.

Reed's body was discovered around 7:15 a.m. Friday in the second-floor stairwell landing of his building. Police believe he was killed sometime after 3 a.m. and are investigating Reed's death as a homicide. He may have been robbed and then murdered, Fox 2 Detroit reports.

After interviewing over 30 people, Ypsilanti Police believe that there was a party last Friday night at the University Green apartments, where Reed lived. Reed and his friends had gone to a club before possibly attending the party that night, the Detroit News reports.

It's only the latest report of violent crime to plague the university, located near Ann Arbor, Mich. Two separate incidents of sexual assault were reported by female students in on-campus dorms that weekend, according to Fox 2 Detroit.

An EMU student living in a nearby apartment complex to where Reed was killed was pistol-whipped and attacked Monday night by a group of intruders who broke into his apartment, MLive reports. Ten months ago, EMU student Julia Niswender was killed at Peninsular Place, another off-campus apartment complex near University Green. Her death remains unsolved.

University Green has begun increasing security personnel and the frequency of patrols in their apartment complexes, according to MLive, and EMU President Susan Martin has said that the university will work to improve safety off-campus.

"We need to do more, and we're going to sit down and take a look it," she told the news site. "We certainly can provide better education in terms of what are the questions you should ask the university when you're making a choice about living on campus and what are the questions you should ask if you decide to go off campus."

Reed was a popular member of the EMU football team who started all six games this season, according to the Associated Press:

Reed went to Simeon Academy in Chicago, perhaps best known as the high school of NBA star Derrick Rose. Reed majored in Communication, Media and Theatre Arts at the school, about 30 miles southwest of Detroit.

The 5-foot-10-inch, 161-pound receiver played in six games this season, catching 15 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown. He made 18 receptions for 171 yards and scored a touchdown in nine games last season.

"The EMU family has suffered an unbelievable loss today," said Heather Lyke, vice president and athletic director at the school "Demarius was an influential leader who thrived in the classroom and on the field. Everyone gravitated to him and often described him as the 'life of the locker room.'"

Ypsilanti Police want to talk to anyone who may have information about or attended a party Thursday night or early Friday morning in the University Green apartments where the incident took place. A reward of up to $5,000 for information that helps solve the case is posted through Crime Stoppers. Tips can be submitted by calling 1-800-SPEAK UP (1-800-773-2587), online at www.1800speakup.org or via text to CRIMES (274637).CORRECTION: Following multiple published sources, this article incorrectly stated the location of a separate pistol-whipping assault that was reported following Reed's apparent homicide. The assault occurred at Huron View Apartments of Ypsilanti, located directly behind University Green.

Before You Go

"Young L.A. Girl Slain; Body Slashed in Two" ― L.A.'s Daily News

10 Major Crimes That Shocked the Nation (SLIDESHOW)

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