Police solve 17-year-old Michigan murder cold case after finding buried shotgun
Police in Lansing, Michigan, have solved a 17-year-old murder cold case after recovering a buried shotgun and linking it to the shooting, according to detectives. The suspected gunman and getaway driver have both died, meaning no criminal charges can be brought.
The shooting happened at about 10:22 p.m. on August 1, 2009, in the 900 block of West Kavanaugh Street. Officers found 19-year-old Edric Hinton suffering from a gunshot wound and provided emergency medical care before firefighters took him to a hospital.
Hinton was pronounced dead less than 30 minutes later. Investigators initially believed a shotgun had been fired into an apartment from outside, Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus said at a briefing Monday.
Detectives interviewed witnesses, developed suspects and pursued search warrants and forensic testing, but the investigation eventually stalled when they ran out of new evidence and information.
Cold case Detective Shannon Thielen began reviewing the case in 2019, meeting with the family and examining more than 50 pieces of evidence. Michigan State University cold case interns helped organize the investigative material in 2025.
A breakthrough came when Thielen interviewed someone who had received information directly from people involved in the killing. The interview identified a location where the suspected murder weapon, a 12-gauge shotgun, was believed to have been buried.
Thielen and crime scene investigators searched the location in fall 2025, recovering a shotgun 16 years after the killing. Testing by the Michigan State Police Crime Lab conclusively matched two shells from the shooting to the recovered weapon.
“Edric Hinton was an innocent bystander,” Thielen said.
She identified the suspected shooter as Esteban Reyes Jr. and the getaway driver as Lee Anthony Lynn. Both are now dead, but Thielen said the witness’s account and forensic findings allowed police to give the family answers.
Hinton’s twin brother, Eric, said the family had endured 17 years of uncertainty. He also spoke about the killing of their older sister in 1991, describing his brother’s death 18 years later as another devastating loss.
“This is not the outcome that we wanted, but this is the best one that we’re going to get,” Eric said, quoting his mother.
He said the family could now grieve his brother and celebrate his life without the uncertainty of not knowing what happened.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
