4 May Face Charges in Man's Murder

BROWNSTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Four people are expected to face charges for the murder of a young Brownstown Township man. FOX 2 has learned the suspects were his friends, and his family is heartbroken.

23-year-old Robert Hackney Jr.'s body was found in Smith Creek Tuesday. He had been strangled and his body dumped in the water.

"He was a good guy. He worked for a living. An animal should not be treated the way my son was treated. It was animals that killed him," said Robert Hackney, the victim's father.

Hackney lived with his family at the Tanglewood Estates in Brownstown. Neighbors say they would routinely see him cutting through a path from his subdivision to come to the Deerfield Estates in Flat Rock to visit friends. That is where he came Monday night to attend a party.

A neighbor who did not want to be identified says the murder underscores problems here. "It's terrible. It's just like you don't know what's going to happen next. I think the kids are all out of control," she said.

Hackney played video games with friends, and when he had not returned in the morning, his sister and father went looking for him, retracing his steps.

"He didn't deserve to die that way at all," said his sister Deanna Hackney. "Me and my dad found him and it just wasn't right."

Brownstown Police have four people in custody in connection with the murder, two males and two females. Three of the suspects are from Flat Rock and one is from Taylor. Warrants are being prepared.

Hackney was in the Junior ROTC at Southwestern High School in Detroit where he graduated. He worked at Timko Auto Parts. Family members say he was kind and generous.

When his sister's six-month-old son underwent a heart transplant in April, she says Hackney visited his nephew, Matthew, every day he was in the hospital.

"My brother was a good person. He was a really good person. He's going to be missed. He had so many friends and so much family that cared about him so much, and he should still be here. He's only 23. His life had just begun," said Amanda Hackney, the victim's sister.