Police ID 2 found dead inside car in southeast GR

by: Whitney Burney, WOODTV.com staff

Posted: Jun 8, 2020 / 10:48 AM EDT

Updated: Jun 10, 2020 / 05:04 PM EDT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Police are investigating after two people were found dead overnight inside a car in southeast Grand Rapids.

The man and woman were discovered late Sunday, just before midnight, on Bemis Street near Eastern Avenue. Grand Rapids Police Department Sgt. Dan Adams said both appear to have died of gunshot wounds.

They were identified as 20-year-old Jaionna Michelle Braden and 23-year-old Quavon Shamar Lee. Both were from Grand Rapids, according to a GRPD news release.

“Both young people with a lot of life in front of them, so we’re hoping that we can get some justice for their family and information for detectives as they move forward,” Adams said.

The scene on Bemis Street in Grand Rapids were two people were found dead of gunshot wounds in a car. (June 8, 2020)

Braden and Lee’s deaths were among three homicides in the city in just 24 hours.

“Three victims in less than 24 hours. This isn’t Grand Rapids. That’s not what this city represents,” Adams said.

Investigators are working to piece together details of what led up to the shooting. They say it’s too early to know if Braden and Lee were targeted.

“It was probably just wrong place at the wrong time,” Denorio Jones, who went to school with Lee, said.

Jones said he also knew Braden for a brief time. He said the deaths have shaken a lot of people.

“I instantly started crying because it was a hurtful thought,” Jones said. “He wasn’t that type of person that be out in the streets. He was a family man just wanted to make sure everyone was good.”