Homicide Suspect Found Dead in Royal Oak Neighborhood

A 31-year-old Detroit man was found dead after 9:30 a.m. Friday in a Royal Oak neighborhood by a passer-by in the area of 12 Mile and Woodward Avenue, Southfield police said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

Police said Mitchell Leonard Kitchens was found in a parked 1994 silver Ford Thunderbird in the 1600 block of Woodsboro when a neighbor taking a walk saw the body. He had been shot and police suspect the fatal shot was self-inflicted.

Kitchens was wanted in connection with the shooting of a 28-year-old woman in the doorway of her Southfield home just before 7 p.m. Thursday, Southfield Police Chief Joseph E. Thomas Jr. said.

Kitchens had no known connection to Royal Oak or knew anyone in the area where the body was found, Thomas said.

"I guess the suspect must have known we were looking for him," Thomas said, adding the department was dogmatic in its approach to apprehending the man. At the time of the search, Kitchens was considered "armed, dangerous and a threat to the community."

Thomas said the man was found in Royal Oak in the same clothes, the same vehicle and with the same weapon he is suspected of using to kill the unidentified female victim, whom he had been dating. There was no note found in the vehicle.

The woman's small son and niece were in the home in the 27000 block of Marshall Street in Southfield when she was shot multiple times Thursday, police said. 

Police said Kitchens was on parole from Wayne County after being released from jail in January for great bodily harm.

"This is a tragedy that never should have transpired," Thomas said.