Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A Highland Township man is being held without bond in the Oakland County Jail after being charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his fiancée.

21-year-old Michael Devon Webb is charged in last Tuesday’s death of 23-year-old Rachel Renee Wooten.

Wooten and Webb lived together in a residence in the 200 block of Maple in Highland Township. She died at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the neck.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office reported Webb was taken into custody without incident at the scene. He reported the shooting in a 911 call, saying he had shot his fiancé and himself. He originally said it was an accident “while cleaning his gun,” but the Office said evidence did not support that.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard said “I am proud of our investigators and team that responded to a tragic death and unraveled a false offered narrative to hold an individual accountable”.

Webb was arraigned in 52-1 District Court in Novi. He is also charged with using a firearm in the commission of a felony. A conviction on a first-degree murder charge carries a mandatory life in prison term without parole.

The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office commented the victim had been shot in the neck at very close range and was pronounced dead at the scene. The defendant had a non-fatal gunshot wound, apparently from the same bullet that killed the victim. The defendant and victim were in a relationship, lived together, and had a child together. The child is 6-months-old and was found inside the home unharmed.

Prosecutor Karen McDonald said “Rachel Wooten was just 23 and a mother of an infant. Her entire life was ahead of her, until it was ended in what appears to be a domestic violence tragedy. She won’t be there for her child or other loved ones in her life. I’m committed to bringing her killer to justice.”

Domestic violence, sometimes called intimate partner violence, is the leading cause of serious injury or death for women aged 18-24 in the United States according to the American College of Surgeons. Over half of all female homicides where the circumstances are known are related to intimate partner violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day to provide tools and support for domestic violence survivors. If people, or someone they know, are experiencing abuse; call at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for help.