DETROIT (WXYZ) — Former Michigan State basketball star Keith Appling remains on the run Sunday night, after being accused of shooting and killing a man Saturday evening on the west side of Detroit.
The Wayne County Medical Examiner has confirmed that the victim in is 66-year-old Clyde Edwards, who was interviewed last year for a story on 7 Action News.
“We miss you and we coming for you. I want my sister home,” Edmonds told reporter Heather Catallo in Feb. 2020.
Edmonds was fighting for guardianship of his sister at the time.
Detroit Police said Saturday that Appling and a 66-year-old man, now known to be Edmonds, got into a verbal fight that turned physical.
Appling then fired multiple shots at Edmonds, killing him before speeding off in a tan Buick Regal. Police have not officially confirmed what led up to the fight, or the relationship between Edmonds and Appling.
Since ending a brief professional basketball career, Appling has had multiple run ins with the law. The same week in Feb. 2020 when Edmonds story aired on 7 Action News, Appling was pulled over in Warren where police found drugs in his car.
“It turns out he had a significant amount of heroin in his car," said then Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith the week after the arrest. "So we charged him with distribution or selling.”
This past December, Appling ending up with 18 months of probation for that felony which could’ve landed him 20 years in prison. About 3 years earlier, he spent a year in jail after multiple different weapons charges including bringing a loaded assualt rifle into a Gentlemen's club in Dearborn in 2016. A few months later he fled police in Detroit, tossing a firearm out the window of his car before they he finally pulled over and was arrested.
During his sentencing in 2017, Appling addressed the court.
“I know I made some mistakes, but I definitely learned from them and I’m ready to get my life back on track,” Appling told the judge.
Appling is still on the run Sunday night and police say he is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information is asked to contact crime stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
