A late afternoon shooting on Sterling Street left Erica Marie Sanders dead and pushed a small Macomb County neighborhood into an intense court and media spotlight.
CENTER LINE, Mich. — What began with officers rushing to a house on Sterling Street near Van Dyke Avenue has become a murder case that now sits on an April court calendar, with prosecutors accusing a Center Line man of killing his girlfriend inside her home.
The victim, Erica Marie Sanders, 38, was pronounced dead after police said they found her with an apparent gunshot wound inside the residence on March 17. Zachary Fuqua, 39, was later charged with second-degree murder and five gun related offenses. The case stands out not only because of the allegation that Sanders was shot in her own kitchen, but because prosecutors say children were in the house and the accused man was arrested shortly after fleeing the scene on foot.
Local reporting first sketched the geography of the case. The house sits on Sterling Street in Center Line, a small city in Macomb County bordered by Warren and lined with compact residential blocks, driveways and one story homes. Police said the shooting happened about 5:30 p.m., an hour when people are coming home, children are inside and a sudden cluster of patrol cars changes the rhythm of an entire street. Early television reports said a husband or boyfriend had been taken into custody after a domestic dispute turned deadly. Those first stories were short on courtroom detail, but they established the setting, the time and the fact that Sanders died at the scene.
As prosecutors moved in, the public understanding of the case shifted from emergency response to criminal record. Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido announced on March 20 that Fuqua had been arraigned before Judge Suzanne Faunce in the 37th District Court. The office said Fuqua is accused of shooting Sanders in the kitchen of her Center Line home and that three of her four children, ages 5 to 17, were home at the time. He was charged with second-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person and three counts of felony firearm. The prosecutor’s office also said those were the maximum charges supported by the evidence presented so far, signaling that the case file could still grow.
Another layer came from courtroom remarks and follow up reporting. Assistant prosecutor Jonathan Mycek said Fuqua had “no qualms” about shooting his significant other in front of three minor children. He also alleged that Fuqua gave the children candy as he left, using the phrase, “Here y’all babies go.” That detail, repeated later by national crime outlets, pushed the case beyond ordinary regional coverage. Yet many parts of the event remain unknown in public. Officials have not said what sparked the confrontation, whether neighbors heard the gunshot, how long officers took to arrive after the call or what physical evidence beyond the firearm was recovered from the house.
The route after the shooting is partly documented and partly thin. Police and media reports said Fuqua fled on foot and was arrested nearby. One community newspaper, citing police, placed the arrest at 10 Mile Road and Wainwright Street, a location that helps show how quickly the search ended after officers responded. Law and Crime also reported that a March 14 social media post attributed to Fuqua said, “Going out with a bang.” That phrase has circulated widely, but prosecutors have not publicly tied it to a formal theory of motive. No affidavit released to the public has laid out whether investigators consider it evidence of intent, emotional state or something else entirely.
For residents and observers, the procedural next steps now matter because the public facts remain limited. Judge Faunce denied bond, and Fuqua was remanded to the Macomb County Jail. He is scheduled for a probable cause conference at 8:45 a.m. April 1 before Judge John Chmura and for a preliminary exam April 8 before Faunce. Those hearings are likely to be the first moments when investigators explain the basis for the murder count in greater detail. Second-degree murder in Michigan can carry life or any term of years, while the felony firearm counts each carry mandatory prison time if there is a conviction. One local report said no attorney had yet been listed for Fuqua in court records.
The story has widened because it brings together three overlapping frames at once: a neighborhood shooting, a domestic homicide prosecution and the reported presence of children at the scene. Lucido said the allegations were “abhorrent” and had caused a devastating loss for Sanders’ family. That official language echoed what neighbors often feel after a violent crime enters a quiet street: the damage is counted not only in charges and dates, but in the sudden collapse of a sense of normal life. The legal case will now move on formal deadlines, but the public memory of this one is likely to stay attached to the house, the hour of the shooting and the children inside.
As of Tuesday, Fuqua remained jailed without bond, and the next visible step was the April 1 court hearing. Until then, the case rests between two places: the house on Sterling Street where police say Sanders was killed and the courtroom where prosecutors will have to prove what happened there.
Author note: Last updated April 14, 2026.