Who Killed Curtis Maddox? New Details On The Unsolved Murder Of The Detroit Father
Ava Arnold It's been more than 25 years since Curtis Maddox was killed, and police have no new leads in the case. Who killed Curtis Maddox?
Thanks to the advent of DNA technology, prosecutors demanding that their case files be “cleaned out” nationwide, and an improvement in the way we, as a nation, solve our crimes, a lot of so-called “cold cases” are being solved.
Unfortunately, however, Curtis Maddox’s unsolved murder — which has remained unsolved for nearly 25 years — is not one such case.
Let’s look at what we know, so far, about the details of Curtis Maddox’s death, and who could have possibly killed him.
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1. He was a Detroit native.
Curtis Maddox grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and lead a relatively normal life. He graduated from Pershing High School in 1993 but decided not to go to college after graduating. Rather, he was — according to his family, who spoke exclusively to Fox 2 Detroit — “trying to get his life started” when he was gunned down on May 10, 1994.
2. He went to two different places before his murder.
Even though the family has very little to go on, when it comes to his murder, they know for a fact he visited two places, in particular, before he was murdered.
The first place was to a gas station in the Six Mile district. The second place was to a restaurant called John R, which at the time was located on West Robinwood.
A short time after he ate dinner at John R, on the night of May 10, 1994, Maddox was walking home on West Robinwood when he was gunned down. Police found his body on West Robinwood, where they determined that he died instantly.
Curtis Maddox was a beloved father and family man.
3. He left behind two children.
At the time of his death, Curtis Maddox had two children: a son, Demarco Murray, and a daughter, Kamiyah James.
Both of his children, who were very young when he died, spoke to Fox 2 Detroit about their father’s murder, and the effect it’s had on their lives.
"I'm the oldest. I just wish I would have had the chance to have my dad in my life. Whoever took him, you took a big part of our life. We didn't even get a chance to know him, and I just pray if anyone seen this to please come forward, please," Kamiya James told the outlet.
Even Curtis’s sister spoke out against his murderer. “Curtis was a loving brother. He had two beautiful kids. We all miss him so much. He's not here to see his kids and grandkids grow. So if anyone out there watching this, please call Crime Stoppers," said Celelia Maddox.
4. Curtis Maddox’s murder is, unfortunately, just another Detroit crime statistic.
According to The Detroit News, one of the main reasons that Curtis Maddox’s murder remains unsolved is the fact that the city of Detroit is overwhelmed with so many current violent crimes. Put simply, Detroit is the second-most violent city in the nation (behind St. Louis).
The outlet reports that in 2017, 13,796 violent crimes were reported — murder, rape, assault and robbery — in the city compared with 13,705 in 2016, the FBI reported. Detroit's rate of 2,057 violent crimes per 100,000 people placed it second-highest among cities with more than 100,000 residents, below St. Louis and above Baltimore, Memphis and Kansas City.
Related Stories From YourTango:With this in mind, the Detroit city police have teamed up with Crime Stoppers to try to solve this “cold case.” Anyone with any information is invited to call Crime Stoppers; if your information leads to an arrest and/or a conviction, you can be eligible for a reward up to $2500.
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Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. Find her online at and .
