TEEN FOUND DEAD THREE DAYS AFTER HELPING POLICE

Detroit- Three days before a local teen died, she made a decision
that might have cost her her life.

Shelley Hilliard, 19, a transgender woman, was about to be arrested
for possession of marijuana Oct. 20 when police offered a way out,
according to testimony during a court hearing Thursday. She could set
up a drug deal.

With the police listening on speaker phone, Hilliard used her
cellphone to call [name redacted], telling him she had someone (an
undercover agent) who wanted to buy $335 worth of cocaine and
marijuana, according to testimony during [name redacted]'s
preliminary examination Thursday in 36th District Court.

When [name redacted] arrived at the Motel 6 in Madison Heights 20
minutes later, police arrested him.

[name redacted], 30, of Detroit, was released several hours later.
Three days later, the mutilated body of Hilliard was discovered
ablaze in the street on Detroit's east side.

[name redacted] was charged with the murder. His preliminary exam
resumes Jan. 13.

During the hearing, testimony suggested two days after his arrest,
[name redacted] bought a prepaid cellphone that he used to lure
Hilliard to her death.

The next day, Hilliard received a call to meet a man at 1 a.m. at 933
Longfellow St.

She was driven to the site by Robert Mullen, a taxi driver who
testified during the hearing that he took Hilliard on all her calls.

During the drive, Hilliard told Mullen she was worried about payback
by [name redacted] for turning him in. Mullen arrived at the dark
neighborhood to find three people, but couldn't identify them.

Soon after dropping Hilliard off, Mullen got a call from her sounding
scared, testified Mullen. The phone then sounded like it fell to the
ground and went dead, he said.

He returned to 933 Longfellow but there was no sign of Hilliard or
the three other people, he said.

Mullen tried to call Hilliard several times. At first, the calls rang
before going to voicemail. They then went directly to voicemail,
suggesting the phone had been turned off.

Her burned body was discovered 31/2 hours later on a service road
along Interstate 94.

Two days later, Mullen and Hilliard's mother, Lyneice Nelson, went to
police to fill out a missing person's report.

An impassive [name redacted], in cornrows and prison greens, is
charged with first-degree murder and mutilation.