DETROIT – Detroit police are investigating allegations that the pastor accused of fatally shooting a man in church Sunday afternoon was having an affair with the victim’s wife.
Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt confirmed that police are investigating the allegations.
“We’ve heard several allegations and are looking into that, but haven’t substantiated anything,” Dolunt said, adding that the pastor was released from custody Monday morning.
Police identified the victim as 26-year-old Deante Smith of Detroit.
Detroit Police Officer Shanell Williams said the pastor was released after being detained and questioned by investigators. No further details were available.
Maria Miller, spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, said they have not received a warrant request yet from Detroit Police.
Detrese Abbot, Smith’s cousin, said her family is devastated.
“It’s unbelievable,” Abbot said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. “They’re painting him to be a monster, but he wasn’t. They knew each other very well. This is not just a strange man that walked in looking to harm someone. . We’re just trying to figure this whole thing out.”
The shooting happened around 1:45 p.m., shortly after a 1:30 p.m. service got under way at the City of God storefront church. Smith never actually made it into the church, but went after the pastor in the vestibule, Dolunt said.
Dolunt said the pastor and Smith knew each other and had “some type of problem before.”
The pastor shot Smith multiple times, including in the chest, with a semi-automatic pistol. The man died later at Botsford Hospital.
According to Dolunt, a previous police report had been filed against Smith involving threats. Investigators are continuing to piece together what happened and interview church members.
“It’s tragic,” Dolunt said, noting that church violence is not new to Detroit or anywhere else.
Abbot said Smith had been a member of the church for the past four years and had been close to the pastor before their friendship soured.
“The pastor took him under his wing, he was his mentor,” she said. “He was someone my cousin looked up to as a father figure. . So much happened that led up to this. I just don’t understand none of this. . They had a relationship and bond that couldn’t be broken. For this to end like this and for them to paint him as a crazy and deranged person, he didn’t want this to come to this.”
Smith had vented about his personal life on Facebook last month, posting on Sept. 15, that he was “Divorced and Happy.”
But Abbot said the couple didn’t actually divorce and was in the midst of reconciling despite the allegations. The next day, Smith said he was going to be at the church that upcoming Sunday. “I’LL BE THERE WITH THE TRUTH,” he wrote.
“He had been saying it for a couple days now, that the truth is going to come out,” Abbott said.
Later, Smith accused the pastor of being the father of his wife’s baby.
Abbot said her cousin drastically changed in the course of a month, after he began to suspect an affair.
“It’s crazy because everyone was living a normal life like they didn’t know what was going on between his wife and pastor,” Abbot said. “It really hurt him.”
Sunday’s shooting comes four months after a gunman opened fire in a church in Charleston, S.C., killing nine people. In July 2014, an off-duty Detroit police officer who was working as a church security guard shot and killed an ax-wielding man at the Citadel Praise of Church.
Detroit’s religious leaders often have been at the forefront of denouncing violence, though they haven’t said much about whether pastors, priests or clergymen should carry guns themselves.
In July, following a wave of fatal shootings that had hit Detroit at the start of summer, several faith leaders united to issue a plea to the community to help stop the violence.
Several of Smith’s friends have posted tributes to him on social media. According to Abbot, Smith played football for the semi-pro football team Michigan Lightning.
“A brother and teammate to so many of us, he left us way to soon. His infectious smile and the courage in which he approached life, on and off the field, are attributes that will stick with all of us,” the team posted. “More important than all his on the field achievements, was his ability to reach someone who was going through a rough time. ‘I got you.’ was echoed by him on many occasions, and to Tae, they weren’t just words, he wasn’t going to let you fall. He mentored many and his legacy will live on with them.”
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