GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A man has been charged with open murder after police discovered a body in the back of the car he was driving after using his GPS tracker from an unrelated crime to find him.
Grand Rapids officials say Devon Matthews is now charged with open murder and felony firearm for the death of Richard Jekel.
On June 3, a charge of aggravated stalking was issued against Matthews out of Wyoming District Court for apparent harassment of a woman. Matthews bonded out and was given a GPS ankle tether.
When that same woman called police days later to report continued harassment by Matthews, police used the GPS location on his tether to find him.
Officers traced Matthews and the car he was driving to an address on Horton Avenue SE, where Matthews ran away and tried to ditch a gun in a public bathroom at a nearby park.
Officers recovered the weapon and found the remains of a man in the back of the car Matthews was driving.
The day after the discovery, Grand Rapids Police sent out a press release identifying 69-year-old Rick Jekel as the victim of a homicide on Horton Avenue.
Friends of Jekel, who was a former University of Michigan football player, told FOX 17 he was homeless and living in his car at the time. A connection between Matthews and Jekel was not immediately clear.
