A Grand Rapids, Michigan, man will spend decades behind bars for killing his wife, fatally shooting her 15 times in a fit of anger after she served him divorce papers.
On Thursday, Aug. 7, Marcus Durayalle Lofton, 44, was sentenced to serve 25-50 years behind bars on a second-degree murder charge over the slaying of his wife, 38-year-old Alicia Lofton in August 2023, as reported by Mlive.com.
The couple had just married in February. Just a day before the killing, Alicia Lofton served her husband with divorce papers and she told him she was selling the house. Because he had been arrested in May for alleged domestic violence against his wife, he wasn’t supposed to be in contact with her.
The shooting happened after a morning argument on Aug. 17, 2023, as Lofton packed up his belongings. He snapped when his wife asked to get “everything together” for her new man.
Marcus Lofton grabbed his wife’s pistol from a drawer. When he tried to strike her with it, the gun went off. Alicia Lofton then locked herself into a bedroom. Marcus Lofton kicked the door open and shot his wife 15 times while she tried to escape through a window.
Grand Rapids police found her dead on the ground next to a house with numerous fatal gunshot wounds to the head and body. Officers arrested Lofton a few blocks away from the scene.
The trial previously ended in a mistrial after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Instead of challenging the charges at a second trial, Lofton accepted Kent County prosecutors’ plea agreement and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and felony firearms.
Judge Scott Noto also sentenced Lofton to two years for the firearms charge, which must be served before he can begin serving time for murder.
