Center Line man sentenced to 22-37 years for fatal hotel shooting

A Center Line man was sentenced to 22 to 37 years for a 2025 fatal shooting in the parking lot of the Extended Stay America hotel in Sterling Heights, prosecutors say.

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido announced that 52-year-old Luke Svacha was sentenced today after he pleaded no contest on July 27 to charges stemming from the Feb. 1, 2025, shooting death of 24-year-old Jajuan Marls.

According to the prosecutor's office, Svacha was sentenced to 20 to 35 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections for second-degree murder, and a consecutive two years for felony firearm.

Svacha received 585 days of credit for time served in the Macomb County Jail, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors say he was ordered to have no contact with the victim's family, and he must pay restitution of $6,531 to the victim's mother.

"Today, the defendant was held accountable for taking a life. At 52 years old, he now faces decades behind bars to pay the price for the crime he committed. No sentence can undo the harm caused, but justice demands accountability from those who take another person's life," Lucido said.