KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — A man that Kalamazoo Public Safety says was a known heroin dealer and violent felon is now on trial for shooting his estranged girlfriend’s brother to death.
Detectives beleive George Mack was actually gunning for his girlfriend, Erica Bell, when he opened fire on her home with an SKS assault rifle, but Edward Bell pushed her out of the line of fire and was killed instead.
Prosecutors contend that Mack had been harassing and abusing her for some time after they separated. He is the father of her two children.
When the Bells decided last August that it was time to change the locks in her home so that Mack would no longer have access, he confronted them and Edward Bell did not survive the encounter.
Mack fled on foot. Public safety thought they had him surrounded in his home, but after a stand-off, they entered the home and could not find him.
The 27-year-old Mack was taken into custody in Las Vegas and extradited back to Michigan to face this open murder charge. He is also charged with several gun felonies.
The trial is expected to last a few more days.
