Stephen Freeman appears in a booking photo. (Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office)
A Michigan man who, as a teen last year, was arrested with a 62-year-old woman’s body in the bed of the pickup truck he was driving was recently charged with her murder and sexual assault, authorities say.
Stephen Lee Freeman, 20, was initially charged with one count each of concealing the death of an individual and receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle. He was also charged with one count of felony murder. He also stands accused of murder in the first degree, criminal sexual conduct, and home invasion, according to a press release issued by the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.
The crimes concern the death of Gabrielle Seitz, who was killed on Oct. 27, 2022. After a minor traffic crash the same day in Roseville, Michigan, the person driving the blue pickup involved fled the scene, according to law enforcement. Roughly 30 minutes after the crash, Seitz’s body was found in the truck’s covered bed.
“I opened the tailgate,” Roseville Police Detective Chris Moran testified at Freeman’s arraignment in a courtroom report by the Macomb Daily. “I saw what looked like a comforter in the back … I proceeded to pull back the blanket, and the first thing I observed was a human leg. My immediate reaction, based on my years of training and experience, was this was a deceased person.”
Police say they used cellphone video to identify the defendant as the driver who had tried to run away but was arrested.
On Nov. 4, 2022, Freeman was given the potential to bond out of jail. The judge overseeing the case at the time remarked the first two charges against him were “not high-level felonies,” and he was granted $75,000 bail. The defendant, however, was homeless and not working at the time of his arrest, and he was never able to afford bail.
He has remained in detention in the Macomb County Jail since his arrest.
By mid-November 2022, almost two weeks later, Freeman’s bond was revoked as the felony murder charge was added. At the time, prosecutors alleged the defendant broke into the victim’s residence through a window while she was gone. When Seitz later got back home, an altercation ensued, and the woman was killed while the man drove off with her truck, according to law enforcement.
The victim appeared to have been strangled with a shoelace, prosecutors alleged. It was still on the woman’s neck when she was found, and her body showed “obvious signs of strangulation,” according to law enforcement.
The investigation continued, and authorities determined Seitz’s murder was premeditated, according to prosecutors. Authorities shared no information about the sexual assault charge.
“My office has augmented the charges against Stephen Freeman to reflect the gravity of his alleged actions,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said in a statement. “We stand resolute in our commitment to seeking truth and accountability. Thank you to the Roseville Police Department and the Michigan State Police for their extensive investigation.”
The new charges resulted in Freeman’s case being transferred to the Macomb County Circuit Court on Nov. 9. Initial proceedings were held in the 39th Roseville District Court.
If convicted as charged, he faces the possibility of life in prison.
Gabrielle Seitz’s son remembered her fondly.
“She was the sweetest person alive that everyone loved,” Justin Omans told Detroit-based ABC affiliate WXYZ. “She made people laugh … she liked to dance, sing, everything. She was just a perfect mother, a perfect friend, a perfect sister to everyone that knew her.”
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