According to prosecutors, the defendant shot Erica Marie Sanders in her Center Line home, then left after handing candy to children who were inside.

CENTER LINE, Mich. — A 39-year-old man has been charged with murder after prosecutors said he shot his girlfriend in the back of the head inside her home on March 17 while three of her children were there, then handed the children candy before leaving.

Zachary Fuqua was arraigned March 20 in 37th District Court on one count of second-degree murder, one count of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, one count of being a prohibited person in possession of ammunition and three felony firearm counts. The case drew immediate attention because prosecutors said the shooting happened in a kitchen during the late afternoon, in front of children ages 5 to 17, and because the account presented in court included a detail that sharpened the cruelty alleged in the attack.

Authorities said the shooting happened about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, at a house on Sterling Street near Van Dyke Avenue in Center Line, a small Macomb County city surrounded by Warren. Prosecutors said Erica Marie Sanders, 38, was in the kitchen of her home when Fuqua shot her. Officers who were sent to the house found Sanders with an apparent gunshot wound and tried lifesaving measures, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Prosecutors said Fuqua fled on foot after the shooting. Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor Jonathan Mycek, describing the allegation during court proceedings, said Fuqua showed “no qualms” about shooting Sanders in the presence of the children. Mycek said that as Fuqua left the house, he gave the children candy and said, “Here y’all babies go.”

The charging record presented by the prosecutor’s office adds several details that placed the case on a fast court track. Fuqua, of Center Line, was charged not only with second-degree murder but also with five gun related counts that prosecutors said were supported by the evidence gathered so far. Local news reports said three of Sanders’ four children were at home at the time, while an earlier police account said all four children were in the house. Officials have consistently said at least three minors were present. One neighborhood report said officers later caught up with Fuqua near 10 Mile Road and Wainwright Street. At the time of publication, court records reviewed by local media did not list a defense attorney for him. No motive beyond the allegation of a domestic dispute had been laid out in open court.

The public timeline began with police dispatches on March 17 and widened over the next three days. WXYZ reported that the Center Line Department of Public Safety identified Sanders and said charges were pending soon after the shooting. By March 20, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido announced the formal case in a press release from Mount Clemens. That statement said Sanders was killed inside her home and that the children ranged in age from 5 to 17. The same release said the listed charges were the maximum available based on the evidence then presented. Law and Crime later reported that a March 14 social media post attributed to Fuqua read, “Going out with a bang,” a phrase investigators have not publicly tied to intent in a court filing. Officials have not publicly described whether anyone else was in the room when the shot was fired or whether the children were interviewed on the record.

At arraignment, Judge Suzanne Faunce set no bond and ordered Fuqua held in custody. Prosecutors said second-degree murder in Michigan carries a possible penalty of life or any term of years. The prohibited person firearm count and the prohibited person ammunition count each carry up to five years, and each felony firearm count carries a mandatory two years to run consecutively if there is a conviction. The next steps were scheduled quickly. Fuqua was set for a probable cause conference at 8:45 a.m. April 1 before Judge John Chmura, followed by a preliminary exam April 8 before Faunce in the 37th District Court in Center Line. Those hearings are expected to test what evidence moves forward and whether the prosecution seeks any changes as the case develops.

The killing unfolded inside a family home in a city where violent crime rarely draws sustained national attention, which helped explain why the case traveled quickly from local television reports to national crime coverage. The alleged remark to the children and the presence of minors in the house became the detail most widely repeated, but prosecutors also stressed the longer damage to the family left behind. Lucido said in a statement that the allegations were “abhorrent” and had caused an “immeasurable and devastating loss” for Sanders’ children and relatives. In nearby coverage, local stations focused on the ordinary setting of the case, a residential block where police cars and emergency crews converged after the call. That contrast between an everyday neighborhood and the allegations in court gave the case its stark public shape.

The case now stands at the charging stage, with Fuqua in jail without bond and the first two court dates set for April 1 and April 8. What remains unresolved is the full motive, whether additional evidence will be introduced at the preliminary phase and how prosecutors will present the testimony tied to the children who were in the home.

Author note: Last updated April 14, 2026.