A Detroit man is facing charges after two people were killed and two others injured in a stabbing at a pool party earlier this month.
31-year-old Daiwan Hopson is accused of fatally stabbing 25-year-old Martisha Payne of Detroit and 31-year-old Jakirea Williams of Chesterfield Township, and injuring a 31-year-old man from Pontiac and a 40-year-old man from Detroit.
The violence happened around 9:58 p.m. at a home on Fleming Street near East Seven Mile and Conant. Prosecutors say a fight broke out in the backyard between Hopson and one of the victims. Hopson allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed him multiple times. The altercation moved to the front yard, where Payne, Williams, and the 31-year-old victim were also attacked.
Martisha Payne and Jakirea Williams were rushed to the hospital but later died from their injuries. The two surviving victims were treated.
He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to murder.
“What started out as a friendly family and friends end-of-summer gathering turned deadly with four people stabbed. Two succumbed to their injuries. A disagreement. A quick escalation. An introduction of a deadly weapon. And then multiple deaths. So senseless. So tragic. And so very violent,” Prosecutor Worthy said.
Records show Hopson has a violent history. In 2023, he was sentenced in Macomb County Circuit Court to 21 months to 10 years in prison for the nonfatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend in Warren. He pleaded no contest to assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, and had originally faced an attempted murder charge. He was paroled on July 2, 2025.
