Markeisha Burns-Cross received 10 to 30 years after admitting responsibility in the fatal shooting of her former partner.

SAGINAW, Mich. — An Indiana woman was sentenced to 10 to 30 years in prison for helping her boyfriend reach and kill the father of her child inside a Michigan home where several children were present.

Markeisha Burns-Cross, 27, pleaded no contest in April to second-degree murder in the death of 33-year-old Devon L. Williams. The plea resolved a case that began with accusations of first-degree murder and weapons offenses. Prosecutors said Burns-Cross drove Zakeem F. Jones from Indiana to Williams’ home in Buena Vista Township and helped create the confrontation that ended with Jones shooting Williams multiple times. Jones was convicted separately and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The shooting followed a night of drinking, arguing and exchanging messages, according to testimony presented during Jones’ trial. Burns-Cross and Jones had traveled from Indiana to mid-Michigan in March 2023 for a family gathering. They spent part of the evening in Bay City, where Burns-Cross said they argued because Jones had been communicating with other women. Burns-Cross responded by messaging Williams, a former partner with whom she shared a child. She and Williams discussed meeting. Jones later searched her phone, saw the messages and became angry. Burns-Cross testified that Jones then directed her to continue communicating with Williams and arrange a meeting. Rather than leaving the dispute behind, the couple drove toward Williams’ duplex on Walters Drive.

Jones brought a 9 mm handgun when he and Burns-Cross approached the residence, prosecutors said. Williams was inside with several children and was reportedly caring for them at the time. Jones initially demanded that Burns-Cross persuade Williams to step outside. She entered the home, but Williams did not come out. Jones followed her through the doorway. Williams was seated at a table when he noticed the armed stranger in the house. A prosecutor said Williams’ expression changed as soon as he recognized the danger. Williams tried to reach the front door, but it was locked. Jones opened fire before Williams could escape. Investigators later recovered shell casings and bullet fragments from the residence. Williams collapsed on the floor, struggled to breathe and died after being taken to a hospital.

Burns-Cross was close enough to the gunfire to hear a series of shots and feel heat near her face, she testified at Jones’ trial. Her account became a major part of the prosecution’s reconstruction of the killing. She described the events leading from the couple’s argument to the drive to Williams’ home and Jones’ entrance with the gun. Prosecutors characterized the shooting as an ambush driven by jealousy. They said Williams was unarmed, had not expected a violent confrontation and did not know Jones intended to treat him as a romantic rival. The state argued that Jones wanted to eliminate what he saw as competition after finding the messages on Burns-Cross’ phone. No evidence presented in the accounts of the case indicated that Williams had threatened Jones or knew that an armed man was coming to the residence.

After the shooting, Jones and Burns-Cross left the house and returned to Indiana. Burns-Cross was arrested in July 2023, about four months after Williams was killed. Jones remained outside Michigan authorities’ custody for much longer. He was taken into custody in September 2024 as he was being released from an Illinois prison in an unrelated matter, then extradited to Michigan. The delay meant that the cases against the two defendants moved on different tracks. Jones ultimately went before a jury first. Burns-Cross testified during his trial even though she had not yet reached a plea agreement in her own case. Her testimony gave jurors a firsthand account from the person who traveled with Jones, entered Williams’ home and was present when the gunfire began.

A Saginaw County jury convicted Jones in January 2026 of first-degree premeditated murder and several firearm-related felonies. Saginaw County Circuit Judge Andre R. Borrello later sentenced him to mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The court also imposed three consecutive two-year sentences connected to the firearm convictions and ordered him to pay $1,218. Given an opportunity to speak, Jones told the court that he was calm about the outcome and said, “It is what it is.” His statement drew anger from Williams’ relatives. Williams’ mother, Shontele Lockett, said Jones showed no remorse and asked the judge to impose the greatest punishment allowed. Members of the courtroom gallery applauded after the sentence was announced before the judge restored order.

Burns-Cross still faced her own first-degree murder prosecution after testifying. A first-degree murder conviction in Michigan can carry life imprisonment without parole, the punishment Jones received. In April, Burns-Cross pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. A no-contest plea does not require a defendant to give a detailed admission in open court, but the court treats it as a conviction for sentencing. Prosecutors dropped the remaining first-degree murder and weapons charges under the resolution. The resulting sentence requires Burns-Cross to serve at least 10 years before she may become eligible for parole consideration. The 30-year maximum does not guarantee release after the minimum term because any later release decision would depend on Michigan’s parole process.

The outcome also marked the end of nearly three years of uncertainty surrounding the two prosecutions. Williams was killed during the early morning hours of March 30, 2023, according to local court reporting, though some accounts have described the events as beginning late on March 29. The difference reflects a sequence that crossed midnight as Burns-Cross and Jones drank, argued, exchanged messages and traveled to Buena Vista Township. The central facts remained consistent throughout the proceedings: Williams was inside a home with children, Jones arrived with a handgun, Burns-Cross helped lead Jones to the residence, and the couple fled Michigan after Williams was shot. The later convictions assigned different degrees of criminal responsibility to the gunman and the person who brought him there.

Williams was a father of five, and the presence of children in the home intensified the consequences described in court. Prosecutors focused not only on his lack of a weapon but also on the setting in which he died. He was seated inside a residence rather than approaching Jones in a public confrontation. The locked door that blocked his attempted escape became an important detail in the state’s description of the shooting as planned rather than spontaneous. According to the prosecution, Williams lost a battle he did not know he was fighting. That statement summarized the state’s theory that Jones had turned private messages and jealousy into a deadly rivalry without giving Williams warning or an opportunity to avoid it.

Burns-Cross’ sentence is substantially shorter than Jones’ punishment, reflecting her plea to second-degree murder and the fact that Jones fired the fatal shots. It nevertheless places legal responsibility on her for actions that began before the gunman entered the home. Prosecutors said she communicated with Williams, traveled with Jones, led him to the duplex and entered the residence while Jones waited outside with the weapon. Her cooperation against Jones did not prevent a murder conviction, although the final charge carried a sentence that allowed the judge to set a term of years. Public accounts of the sentencing did not establish when Burns-Cross could receive credit for time already spent in custody or precisely when she might first appear before a parole board.

With Burns-Cross sentenced and Jones serving life without parole, both criminal cases have reached their trial-court conclusions. Any appellate proceedings, parole review or further court orders will unfold separately, while the two sentences remain in force.

Author note: Last updated July 12, 2026.