John Jefferson
Screenshot from the video arraignment of Shuvonne Vinson and Gregory Callahan (MLive/YouTube).
A Michigan woman lashed out during her arraignment after she was charged with multiple felonies including two counts of homicide and attempted murder of a foster family.
Shuvonne Vinson, 42, sat for a video arraignment on Jan. 3 following the Jan. 1 killings of Jennifer Lyn Bernhard, 48, and Stevie Ray Smith, 74. Vinson and one of her alleged co-conspirators, Gregory Callahan, 37, were charged with their murders as well as the attempted murder of Bernhard’s husband, Jeffrey Alan Bernhard, 52, who was shot and critically wounded. The Bernhards were foster parents to two children, and Smith was Jennifer Berhard’s father.
According to Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor Amy Reiser, who was also part of the video arraignment that was obtained by Michigan’s MLive, Vinson, Callahan, and Keith Finley, 60, a third alleged co-conspirator who apparently refused to appear, allegedly planned to break into the Bernhards’ Northfield Township home, murder the Bernhards, and abduct the two children, ages 9 and 4. The 9-year-old is the Bernhards’ daughter, the 4-year-old is their foster child.
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On the night of Jan. 1, the three suspects allegedly entered the Bernhards’ home armed with shotguns and a handgun, shot the Bernhards and Smith, and took Jeffrey Bernhard’s cellphone. The three suspects then allegedly took the two children with them and fled the scene. Jeffrey Bernhard was able to get to his neighbor’s home, where he called 911 for help. He remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive.
Reiser said that police found the three suspects and the children unharmed in nearby Ypsilanti Township.
During the arraignment, Vinson seemingly alluded to the foster child being her own, saying, “They assaulted my motherf——- child, b—-,” and “I’m not the one that need to be in jail.” When Reiser read the charges against Vinson, she interrupted and became increasingly irate.
In her argument against setting a bail amount, Reiser said Vinson “literally murdered a mother in front of her daughter.”
Vinson interrupted, saying, “No, I did not.”
As her apparent frustration grew, Vinson eventually said of the victims, “Those motherf—–s deserved to die.” She then got up from her seat and requested to leave the arraignment ahead of schedule.
Vinson, Callahan, and Finley were all charged with 12 felonies — two counts of open murder, one count of assault with intent to murder, one count of home invasion, two counts of kidnapping, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, one count of conspiracy to commit home invasion, one count of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, 0ne count of stolen property, and one count of felony firearm. Vinson was also charged with four counts of assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer, one count of carrying a concealed weapon, one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and one count of possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.
According to Northfield Township police, Vinson and Callahan are being held without bond.
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