Matt Helms

Detroit Free Press

Deontae Mitchell's mother said it wasn't uncommon for her son to ride his bike to the store.

Deontae, 13, and his cousin were "going to get a pop or a juice" Tuesday around 10:30 p.m., Crystal Mitchell said. There was a large group of young people at the store, Nino's Market at 15901 E. Warren, when they arrived, she said, and Deontae knew many of the kids from growing up in the neighborhood.

She said the kids watched as a man pulled up, got out of his car, went to the side of the store and urinated, and money fell out of his pocket.

"All the kids saw it, took it and divided it," Mitchell said Friday. The man went into the store to buy something, realized his money was gone, pulled out his gun and went outside, she said.

“The kids, when they saw the gun, they ran, and when they ran, Deontae was the one he grabbed," she said. "And he threw my baby in the back of the car.”

That was the last time he was seen alive. Deontae's body was discovered two days later in a field on the city's east side.

Crystal Mitchell spoke to the Free Press on Friday amid a heartbreaking week for her family, after enduring the kidnapping of Deontae, the discovery of his body and awaiting autopsy results to find out how he died. The Wayne County Medical Examiner's office concluded he had not been shot, but the manner of death was still under investigation, a county spokesman said.

Mitchell described her son as expressive, respectful and always willing to help people out. She said he was a good student at Hamilton Academy, a charter school on the city's east side.

"Everybody knew him and loved him," she said.

Detroit officials on Friday credited the community response and strong police work with the quick apprehension of suspects in Deontae's kidnapping and death.

Roy Portis, 51, turned himself in Friday morning, bringing what Detroit Police Chief James Craig said was a degree of closure to the case that has rattled the city. Craig called the killing another example of the inability to settle conflict without resorting to violence.

​“We’re talking about a defenseless young man and an adult who was frankly three times his size,” Craig said at a news conference with Mayor Mike Duggan. “What’s the point of a weapon? What’s the point of abducting a defenseless child? We’re talking about a 13-year-old.”

Duggan said the story of Deontae being kidnapped and killed over a small amount of money will stick with the city for a long time. But he said he was heartened by the strong community response to the killing, with more than half a dozen people giving police tips that led to arrests within 24 hours of the abduction.

“You don’t go from somebody committing a crime like this … to having them in custody in another state on Thursday without help from the whole community,” said Duggan, who met with the 9th Precinct officers who investigated the case. “The officers said they rarely see anything like this.”

Craig said he was encouraged that so many people came forward with tips in a city where police are often stymied by the no-snitch culture.

On Thursday morning, Toledo police arrested Gregory Walker, 45, and a female companion at a hotel in Toledo. Later Thursday, Ernest Coleman, 30, was arrested at his home in Detroit.

Walker, Coleman and Portis are suspected of being connected to the kidnapping and slaying. Deontae was abducted at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Nino's Market at 15901 E. Warren, and video from the store shows an armed Walker dragging Deontae in to a black Chevy Impala, police allege.

Deontae’s body was found a few miles away Thursday in a field off Harper near Baldwin on the city’s east side.

Walker and the woman remain in police custody in Toledo on felony warrants. Craig said the woman's warrant is for uttering and publishing and is not connected to the Mitchell case. He said police were working with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office on charges and on extradition of the two.

Craig declined to reveal more details Friday about the roles the suspects played in the case, saying it’s still an active investigation.

“Certainly the Wayne County prosecutor will make decisions on what each person will be charged with,” he said.

Deontae’s cousin told police that the two were riding bikes Tuesday when they saw a man who was urinating on the wall at Nino’s Market. The cousin told police the man dropped $70, which Deontae scooped up. The man, who police say is Walker, was armed with a silver handgun. He caught up to Deontae, and, as seen on video, dragged him by the arm and pushed him into the vehicle.

Asked if that characterization of the incident was fact, Craig declined to say.

“I don’t want to go into the details, but we know it was over a certain amount of money and, again, senseless,” Craig said.

Police said they have learned that Walker returned to the liquor store after the abduction, still armed. Craig said there has been speculation that Walker was looking for Deontae’s cousin, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

Craig said that the owner of the store where Deontae was abducted is fully cooperating with police after initially delaying providing surveillance video to authorities. Craig chalked it up to a misunderstanding, saying the owner had child-care issues and couldn’t make it to the store right away and may not have understood the severity of the case.

“Certainly when the team and I approached the store, there was never any reluctance to give us access to the video,” Craig said. “Since that time, he’s been more than responsive.”

Craig said the store was not part of the city’s Project Green Light, in which gas stations, party stores, fast-food restaurants and other businesses install high-definition video cameras that police can monitor in real time. But he said the owner said he was interested in becoming a partner in the project that would have given police quicker access to the video showing the abduction.

Crystal Mitchell said she had yet to decide on a funeral home but would make the arrangements public.

Staff writer Gina Damron contributed to this report. Contact Matt Helms: 313-222-1450 or mhelms@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @matthelms.