April 15, 2025
Deshawn Dante Leeth, 30, died following an altercation with Pennsylvania State Police
A Michigan group chief was shot and killed by Pennsylvania State Troopers following an April 4 chase in a stolen Ohio State Freeway Patrol car.
Deshawn Dante Leeth, 30, crashed the stolen car throughout a pursuit by Pennsylvania State Troopers as he turned onto the Ohio Turnpike. In response to a police report obtained by Mlive, the chase started after Leeth assaulted an Ohio State Trooper, stealing his automotive to flee the scene.
The trooper had initially responded to a single-vehicle rollover crash on the turnpike. PennLive reported that the motive force, recognized as Leeth, started to assault the trooper earlier than stealing the patrol car to flee east towards Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers stopped Leeth, ensuing within the stolen car flipping over. As officers approached the car, an altercation ensued, leading to Leeth being shot by the troopers round 6:05 p.m., police stated.
The incident stays underneath investigation. No Pennsylvania troopers had been injured, though the Ohio officer was handled for minor accidents, PennLive reported. Pennsylvania State Police confirmed Leeth was the person concerned in a information launch, MLive reported.
Leeth was recognized in his Ypsilanti neighborhood for his advocacy work. He based the Underdawg Nation, a nonprofit devoted to serving youngsters impacted by group violence in Washtenaw County and past. In response to its web site, he based the group following his personal launch from jail to spark constructive change in the neighborhood he as soon as harm together with his personal actions.
Leeth grew to become a part of the board of administrators for an additional group, the We The Individuals Alternative Farm. The nonprofit gave him his first probability to provide again to the neighborhood as an intern in 2021.
“You don’t have this want to be completely different, you type of give in,” defined Melvin Parson, govt director of We The Individuals. “And Deshawn was simply the polar reverse of that. His want was to rise above—not solely rise above for himself, however to rise above the place he might attain again and influence people.”
“Like so many in the neighborhood, we’re left in shock, with unanswered questions and profound sorrow,” wrote Alyshia Dyer, Washtenaw County sheriff, in a message on her social media. “…His loss shall be deeply felt by the younger individuals throughout our county whose lives he touched. Irrespective of who you had been or what you had been by, Deshawn confirmed unwavering compassion and care to everybody he labored with.”
Leeth’s household has created a GoFundMe to cowl the unexpected bills surrounding his demise.
“Deshawn was a person of unwavering religion, deep compassion, and highly effective function,” wrote the household. “He lived day-after-day with a coronary heart to serve others, at all times able to uplift, encourage, and create change. Because the Government Director of Underdawg Nation, Deshawn devoted himself to supporting at-risk youth all through Washtenaw, Wayne, and Macomb Counties. He believed in second possibilities, in function over ache, and in constructing a greater future for the subsequent era.”
The crowdfunding has raised over $11,000 as of April 15.
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