Jury acquits woman in Canton shooting

A Detroit woman has been found not guilty of charges she shot a Canton woman after a fight erupted inside an apartment where a mutual acquaintance — a 50-year-old man — lived on Canton’s north side.

Jnaya Shanell Booker, 31, was cleared of wrongdoing as a Wayne County Circuit Court jury returned its verdict Oct. 7, acquitting her on charges of discharging a firearm in a building causing serious impairment, assault with intent to do great bodily harm (less than murder), assault with a dangerous weapon and felony firearm.

Booker’s mother, Dee Booker, had told the Observer all along that her daughter was defending herself against an attack and was “fighting for her life” when she fired the handgun.

Maintaining her innocence, Booker opted to have a jury decide her fate following a shooting that occurred shortly after 8 p.m. June 19 when she went to The Crossings, an apartment complex, to see a man she had dated. Police have said she found another woman visiting him.

Booker averted a 20-year-old prison term she could have faced if she had been convicted as charged.

Early on, Detective Sgt. Dan Traylor had said the two women fought as Booker was accused of pulling a handgun and twice shooting the 40-year-old victim in the leg.

Police have said the woman who was shot also lived at The Crossings, but not with the man she and Booker both knew.

Police had received a 9-1-1 call that shots had been fired in the 8000 block of Nectar, southeast of I-275 and Joy Road, resulting in a woman being taken to a hospital for her injuries.

Police have said Booker left the scene, but was found a few hours later. Her case had been sent to Wayne County Circuit Court for disposition after she waived her preliminary examination in July in Plymouth 35th District Court.

Dee Booker had maintained all along that her daughter feared for her life as the incident unfolded. She had predicted the case would end in a not-guilty verdict.

dclem@hometownlife.com

Twitter: @CantonObserver

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