Ihab Maslamani was described as a ‘struggling,’ ‘immature’ and yet ‘likable’ boy as he bounced from one ‘chaotic’ situation to the next in the Wayne County foster care system, according to his attorney and two adults who knew him. That boy grew into an ‘incorrigible’ teenager who committed many violent acts, culminating with a three-day […]
statement to fat daddy that you better get out of our neighborhood. so he ultimately turned himself in. reporter: taylor was also charged with murder and kidnapping in the quiznos abduction. he pleaded not guilty. at the trial, the defense theorized that matt had gone voluntarily with maslamani and taylor. they were doing a drug deal and what happened happened. any idea he would have known who they were? no, sir. we believe it was totally random. wrong place at the wrong time. could have been any one of us. reporter: and these detectives have advice for anyone ambushed like that in broad daylight or even at night. at no time should you allow someone to take you from point a to point b. reporter: don t go. don t go. you fight. you fight to the death, period. because once you re on their turf, it s over. the young woman at the bank dropped right to the floor. she says, i m not going with you.
that s what saved her life. grass is growing. my flowers are blooming. but i am just dead inside. just dead inside. reporter: in the days after she lost her son, a grief-stricken doreen landry went public with a cause important to her condemning the burned-out and abandoned houses in northeast detroit that area gangs call home. i m pleading to the mayor of detroit, that area needs to be cleaned up. it s nothing but a garbage pit. there s thousands of houses in detroit that are abandoned. that they live in. reporter: just raze em, knock em down. just flatten em. reporter: in fact, in 2010 the detroit mayor started a program to do just that. this house where matt s body was found was demolished. in the fall of 2010, maslamani and taylor were tried and found guilty of all charges.
on detroit s gang-ridden northeast side. my job here is to make sure he gets the best and fairest trial he can get. state your name for the record. ihab maslamani. reporter: he faced a slew of charges, including murder, kidnapping and carjacking in the landry case, bank robbery in the flagstar stick-up and carjacking in the walmart incident. he pleaded not guilty to all charges. maybe his best shot is ironically the homicide. correct. i m not admitting that he committed a crime. however, those cases are very strong cases for the prosecution. reporter: showing him brandishing a gun and clues from the walmart including a discarded gun don t lie. it is not a slam dunk.
so when do you guys miss him? every second, every day. yeah. like i miss him any time i touch an instrument or listen to our favorite band. they identified him on friday. reporter: matt s decomposed body, discovered in a hell hole of a house, was positively i.d. d by the medical examiner through dental records. the cause of death was a single gunshot to the back of the head. already under arrest and now charged with a fresh crime, killing matt, was a man known on the streets known as ihop. he had given police the phony name giles, but his fingerprints revealed him to be 17-year-old ihab maslamani. born in this country? no, born in libya. reporter: his attorney said he came to michigan to live with relatives, who, according to juvenile court records, neglected him. he then entered the state s child welfare system and it didn t go well, fleeing foster homes for a life