Inset left: Kayvon Briscoe-Hall (Macomb County Jail). Inset right: Roger Willie (Obituary). Background: The residential area near where Briscoe-Hall shot and killed Willie in Warren, Mich. (Google Maps).
A Michigan man is facing substantial time behind bars for shooting and killing his much older romantic partner and roommate.
On Wednesday, Kayvon Briscoe-Hall, 21, was convicted of one count each of second-degree murder and felony firearm over the death of 63-year-old Roger Willie, according to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.
The underlying incident occurred at the couple's home on Marr Avenue in Warren, an inner-ring suburb of Detroit, in October 2025.
Police arrived in response to a report of a shooting and found the victim unresponsive and bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. Officers attempted lifesaving measures until he was rushed to Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, where he died.
During Briscoe-Hall's trial, his attorney suggested the shooting might have been justified, though a formal self-defense argument was not made, according to a courtroom report by The Macomb Daily.
"You have to determine, in that particular situation, were these actions justified, or was it intentional?" defense attorney Grace Crivello asked the jurors. "Was it a murder, or a reaction to a perceived threat?"
To hear the defendant tell it, the differences between the couple — starting with the age gap — suggested something of a power imbalance. The two started living together in 2023 after meeting on a dating app.
On the day in question, Briscoe-Hall "retreated" into the bedroom and shouted at Willie to "Get out" during an argument.
Seconds later, the victim was dead. The defendant had fired three shots; the last two bullets connected with their target.
The state, for its part, argued the final spat between the lovers was "not like any other argument," according to the paper.
"The defendant tried to antagonize Roger, baited him, goaded him because he wanted to get his way," assistant prosecutor Maria Panchenko told the Macomb County jury.
The prosecutor conceded the defendant's request for the victim not to enter — but argued that was no excuse to shoot.
"It's a shared room," she said. "Roger didn't listen."
During a preliminary hearing, the state also offered another theory of the case.
The victim's next-door neighbor testified that the defendant displayed increasing hostility toward his much older boyfriend in the months leading up to the shooting — including incidents of screaming, slamming doors, and inflicting a gash on Willie's forehead.
In August 2025, the neighbor said he was in the backyard when he overheard Briscoe-Hall, who was home alone at the time, tell someone on the phone: "Oooooo girl, this is all going to be mine soon."
The defendant is slated to be sentenced on Aug. 19.
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