Shelly Andre Brooks is charged with murdering seven prostitutes on Detroit’s east side. Officers have said Brooks confessed to the killings.

A man at Brooks’ former home on Garland Street who identified himself only as Brooks’ brother-in-law disputed the allegations, saying Brooks “wasn’t like that.” He said Brooks’ mother was hospitalized, in part because of the stress on the family over the accusations. She could not be reached for comment.

Background

At the age of 14, Brooks’ mother left him with his maternal grandmother, while she moved in with a boyfriend. By 11th grade, he had dropped out of high school. Around this same time he had his first brush with the law, when he was found carrying a concealed gun. He served 60 days and after his release, began living on the streets. It appears he had been homeless for the better part of a decade, until his arrest earlier this year.

Brooks found a series of jobs at restaurants and a laundromat but would eventually lose each one due to run-ins with co-workers.

Timeline

Aug. 31, 2001: Sandra Davis, 53, found at 9700 St. Paul.

According to Brooks’ confession, she agreed to trade sex for money with Brooks in an abandoned apartment building on St. Paul. He became angry at her and wanted his money back. When she tried to leave, he struck her in the head repeatedly until she collapsed, then dragged her into a closet. Davis’ decomposed remains were not found until Aug. 31, 2001.

Jan. 22, 2002: Pamela Greer, 33, found in the same building.

A man cleaning asbestos from the same building discovered Pamela Greer, 33, whose body wasn’t found until a stray dog had eaten her right leg.

April 14, 2002: Marion Woods-Daniels, 36, found at 4804 Crane.

Marion Woods-Daniels, 36, was killed with a brick to her head in an alley on Crane Street. She tried to run off with money for a sex act, Brooks allegedly told the police.

April 22, 2002: Rhonda Myles, 45, found at 1382 Manistique.

Rhonda Myles, 45, was found in a vacant building on Manistique apparently beaten to death with the leg of a wooden chair. Brooks’ DNA was found on the weapon.

May 2002: Police ticketed Brooks in May 2002 for entering a building without permission but did not consider a suspect in the slayings.

Nov. 5, 2002: Thelma Johnson, 30, found at Mack and Holcomb.

A person walking near Mack and Holcomb found the body of 30-year-old Thelma Johnson. Brooks allegedly told police he hit her in the head “a couple of times.”

Oct. 18, 2005: Melissa Toston, 38, found at Chalmers and Flanders.

Melissa Toston, 38, was found in a vacant garage on Flanders, about four days after she died. Brooks later said he hit her with a cement object, cut his hand and searched her purse for money.

June 5: Unidentified victim at 2646 Harding.

The body of a still unidentified woman was found on Harding about a thousand feet from the house where Brooks’ grandmother raised him. Brooks allegedly said he wanted his money back from the woman and choked her to death. A neighbor reported hearing screams in the night about three weeks earlier.

June 26: A woman survives a rape and beating near Hickory and Linnhurst.

Brooks allegedly raped and beat another prostitute in the head and left her to die. She survived and, after she recovered from her coma, described her attacker as tall and known as “E,” Carlisle said.

Confronted with DNA evidence that police said tied him to the slayings, Brooks admitted the crimes, Carlisle said.

“He never cried,” Carlisle said. “He never showed remorse.”

One person, reported to be a psychiatrist who has studied serial killers made the point that generally they are able to function on a level more normal than Brooks. It is strange that he would have been homeless for what appears to be such a long period of time, but I am sure it is not unheard of.

The crimes themselves seem to indicate a more disorganized type than many of the more famous serial killers. He seemed to bring his victims to a secluded area, kill them, and then leave them there, not making a great effort at hiding the bodies. Most were found by passersby, or folks who located them without having to search a great deal.

One of the hallmarks of the disorganized killer is that he does not create separate scenes for the intial contact, attack, and body disposal. In Brooks’ case, it would appear this held true, since he undoubtedly led them to the vacant buildings, killed them and left them there. He also did not appear to take any of the stereotypical ‘trophies’ that are associated with more organized serial killers, who take jewelry, body parts, and other momentos with them, so they can relive the thrill of the kill again and again.

Brooks seemed to merely become enraged, attacked, and then left them there. As we see from the information released from his confession, he would get angry at these women for various reasons, because they refused his advances or he felt they were trying to cheat him, and he was attack.

This would also help explain why others do not believe him capable of doing such horrific acts. If there is no triggering event, Shelly Brooks is probably a mild-mannered and quiet man. But when provoked, he quickly becomes belligerent. This also would not have been something he would have done with what he viewed as a stronger person, either another male or a confident female.

I am not sure if the conclusion that he was attacking these women because they reminded him of the mother who abandoned him if a valid reason for explaining his murders. To me, it seems more likely that these were women he viewed as weak enough and lowly enough that he could approach, without fear of rejection. They were prostitutes, and also described as the type “who begged for cigarettes.” This means they probalby would not turn down any oppurtunity for a few dollars.

Police also said that Brooks was proud of the fact that he had survived on the streets for as long as he did. It probably was a point of pride, however missplaced, that he was able to handle being homeless for almost a decade, something many of us could never handle for more than a few days or weeks at the most.

This is a man whose self-esteem and abilities to interact with the world around him were severely limited. He could not work with anyone and probably felt that everyone looked down on him for being homeless, no matter how successful he believed himself. And when one of these women, whom he considered even lower than himself would try to either condemn him or take advantage of him, he would lash out with vicious anger.

Detroiter charged in slaying of seven prostitutes

August 29, 2006

Detroit - A man was charged Tuesday in the slayings of seven prostitutes in Detroit between 2001 and June of this year.

Shelly Andre Brooks faces seven counts of premeditated murder and seven counts of felony murder. The 37-year-old Detroit resident faces a sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of any of the counts.

Brooks remains a suspect in the deaths of seven other prostitutes. Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said the other seven killings were “very similar,” but she declined to comment further.

Police said all seven of the women Brooks is accused of killing were drug users and ranged in age from 30 to 53. All were raped and killed by blunt-force trauma.

Their bodies were found on the city's east side, some in buildings and others in vacant lots.

Brooks has been in custody since July 30 and was being held in connection with a sexual assault of a prostitute. He was to be arraigned later Tuesday on the murder charges.

Man charged in deaths of 7 Detroit prostitutes