Flint man found guilty of murder in 2020 Burton motel shooting

A jury has found a Michigan man guilty of nine felony counts resulting from a fatal shooting over five years ago in the Flint area. 

Donald Eugene Mallory, 52, of Flint, will be sentenced March 9 and faces mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole, Genesee County Prosecutor David Layton said. The jury trial began Jan. 7 and ended Jan. 23 in Genesee County Seventh Circuit Court, case records show. The conviction was issued on open murder, felony murder, armed robbery and six related firearm charges. 

The case involves the shooting death of Jason Rodgers, 38, in the parking lot of a motel on Dort Highway in the community of Burton, which is a suburb of Flint.  

About 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2020, Burton police were called to the motel on a report of a shooting. When police arrived, the prosecutor said, they saw the suspect, but he fled the scene, and a high-speed pursuit resulted. 

That initial chase was called off due to high speeds amid the snowy weather at the time. 

The Flint Township Police Department picked up a pursuit, but also ended their efforts. 

Soon afterwards, police in the City of Flint saw the suspect vehicle at the intersection of Van Slyke Road and 12th Street. The suspect was taken into custody. 

In the meantime, the Burton police officers who were involved in the initial chase returned to the motel and found a man slumped over in the driver's seat of a Chevrolet Equinox. The victim, whom authorities later identified as Rodgers, was taken to Hurley Medical Center in Flint, where he was pronounced dead. 

There was a second suspect in this case who pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder in exchange for testimony against Mallory, the Genesee County prosecutor said. 

The defendant was represented by four different attorneys while the case was pending, a scenario that contributed to delays for the trial process, the prosecutor said.