Man surrenders in Bockheim case

KENTWOOD, Mich. (WOOD) - A 21-year-old man, identified as a person of interest in the death of Michael Bockheim in January, turned himself in to Kentwood police on March 30.

Vernon Heath was arrested and arraigned on an armed robbery charge, with a bond of $250,000.

On January 15, Bockheim, 29, was shot while he sat in a van . The person with Bockheim told police at that time he was stopped at the light at Clyde Park and Burton in Wyoming when two men, one armed with a handgun approached him, demanding money and shot Bockheim.

The case took a different turn the next day when the driver told police it happened somewhere in Kentwood. Additionally, it doesn't appear to be random.

"I don't know that it was a premeditated case," Kentwood Police Chief Richard Mattice told 24 Hour News 8 on January 17. "But it was a case that did involve criminal activity to begin with, that meaning there was a potential drug sale occurring at the time of the homicide."

On January 25, Charles Allen Brown Jr., 19, was also named a person of interest in the case. He "voluntarily met with Detectives and is cooperating fully," officials said on Jan. 31.

On March 19, Brown was arrested in South Carolina and accused of killing Bockheim.

If you have any information, you're asked to contact the Kentwood Police Department at 616.698.6580 or Silent Observer at 616.774.2345