October 13, 2026
Homeowner of Detroit's Prest Street Death House Charged — Faces 20 Years
Headline card: The Night Desk
Homeowner of Detroit's Prest Street Death House Charged — Faces 20 Years
Graveyard Crew, the aftermath of the Sept. 27 Prest Street mass shooting just reached the man who owned the house where it happened.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged homeowner Javon Scott, whose house on Detroit's west side hosted the after-hours party where three people were shot dead and four were wounded in the 14800 block of Prest Street.
The charges
The charges, brought Saturday, Oct. 10, include conducting a criminal enterprise — which carries a maximum 20-year sentence — and maintaining a drug house, a two-year penalty. FOX 2 Detroit adds that Scott was also arraigned on counts of keeping a house of ill fame and furnishing a place for consideration with alcohol.
Scott was arraigned Saturday in 36th District Court and given a $75,000 bond.
The house was already on police radar
The charges stem from a Detroit Police Department investigation into alleged illicit activities at the property. Prosecutor Worthy's office says authorities are also trying to seize Scott's home.
And here's the part that stings: Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison previously said officers had been called to that same house seven other times this year before the shooting. After the massacre, neighbors on Prest Street met with police, city officials, and civic leaders on Oct. 5 to talk solutions — including forming a neighborhood block club.
The shooting case
The house charges land on top of the murder case against Christopher Rafael Gouch, 25, who has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the Sept. 27 shooting. Prosecutors say the gunfire erupted during a fight that began at the party — three dead, four wounded.
What we're watching
This case asks a question the courts are going to chew on for a while: when the party spot itself is the problem, does the owner share the criminal blame? Twenty years says the prosecutor thinks so.
Source: Detroit Free Press, reporting also by FOX 2 Detroit (WJBK).
Source: Detroit Free Press — read the original report
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