19-year-old sentenced to probation after fatally shooting Michigan mall gunman in self-defense

Martinez Long avoided a criminal conviction for the shooting itself, but the judge questioned why he brought a gun into the mall.

A 19-year-old Michigan man who fatally shot an armed man during a chaotic July shooting at a Dearborn mall has been sentenced to two years of probation for carrying a concealed weapon.

Martinez Long, of Oak Park, was in Fairlane Town Center on July 3 when a fight escalated into gunfire. According to FOX 2 Detroit, Cameron Watkins shot and killed 19-year-old Keonte Seaborn before shooting another person during a struggle.

Watkins continued firing inside the mall before Long intervened and fatally shot him, according to prosecutors.

While Long was not charged for killing Watkins because authorities determined he acted in self-defense and in defense of others, he was charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

At Tuesday’s sentencing, the judge acknowledged that distinction while questioning Long’s decision to bring a firearm into the mall.

“I know there was a gun fight at the Fairlane mall,” the judge said. “And the lawyers have agreed, according to this court’s evaluation, that you were acting in self-defense or the defense of others, so that’s a valid legal defense.”

But the judge followed that acknowledgment with a pointed question: “Why did you walk into the mall with a gun in the first place?”

The judge also described Long’s decision to carry the weapon as “poor judgment.”

Long’s attorney said her client never intended to use the gun that day and believed he was carrying it for protection.

“He didn’t instigate the fight. He didn’t start the fight, and he did pull it out for protection of others,” she said.

Long, who has no prior criminal record and is working toward his GED, must complete cognitive behavioral therapy and handgun safety classes. He also cannot possess guns or ammunition during his probation.

Under Michigan’s Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, Long’s record can be expunged if he successfully completes probation.

“This gives you a clean slate,” the judge told him. “You’re only 19 years of age. More of your life’s ahead of you than behind you.”

The case leaves Long with a complicated distinction: the court recognized his right to defend himself and others, while making clear that carrying the weapon that made that defense possible was itself against the law.