Detroit Police Officer Matthew Ethington Found Dead In A Murder-Suicide Case

August 2024 · 3 minute read

Livonia police have named the couple responsible for the murder-suicide on Sunday as Matthew Ethington II, 26, and Maria Martin, 22. 

Two people were discovered dead at home in a condo in Livonia in the 16000 block of Farmington Road. 

Since both individuals were Detroit police officers, Chief James White of the Detroit Police Department arrived on the scene.

They allegedly worked for the police department for less than five years. When the shooting happened, both of them were off duty. 

According to investigators, Martin was shot multiple times, and Ethington died from a single gunshot wound that appeared to be self-inflicted. 

The medical examiners knew the cause of death was gunshot injuries. 

It isn’t clear when the shooting happened. The police have not confirmed the cause of the violent encounter. 

They asserted that Ethington repeatedly shot Martin before turning the gun on himself. An unharmed newborn was discovered. The child is now in the care of a family member.

Detroit police Chief James White called Sunday “a sad day for our department.”

Dr. Kenneth Wolf, CEO of Incident Management Team, Inc., when someone wants to end a relationship, it becomes a crisis moment and risks their safety. 

Someone can think, “If I can’t have her, no one can have her,” since they feel like they have lost power over the other person because of the narcissistic insult. Wolf elucidated.

He recalled another domestic violence instance involving two Detroit police officers that ended in a murder-suicide. 

Officer Patricia “Katie” Williams, the wife of homicide investigator Ed Williams, was fatally shot. 

After that, he shot himself in the head. In September 2009, everything took place in the Canton Public Library’s parking lot.

When an officer is the perpetrator of violence, Wolf said amongst work colleagues, there’s a sadness that someone was so distressed that they hurt someone else.

“There’s also a sense of anger, a sense of betrayal. That officer betrayed the badge, betrayed the mission of a police officer, which is to protect and not to harm. So, whatever the person’s motivations might have been, taking violence against another individual inappropriately is never something you can condone of accept,” he explained.

The investigation is ongoing.

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