Danta Wright: Jordan Klee Murder, Plea Deal, and Sentencing

Danta Wright is the Michigan man who, at 17, shot and killed 18-year-old Jordan Klee during an attempted robbery in Ann Arbor on October 4, 2016. Wright pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and felony firearm, and in July 2017 Washtenaw County Circuit Judge David Swartz sentenced him to 25 to 52 years in prison. The hearing became national news after Wright smiled and laughed while Klee’s family read impact statements, prompting the judge to threaten to tear up the plea agreement entirely.

The Killing in Ann Arbor

Jordan Klee was a senior at Pioneer High School, a football player who had earned a Scholar Athlete Award and an NAACP Award and wanted to become an engineer. He lived at the Pinelake Village Cooperative in Ann Arbor. On the morning of October 4, 2016, a maintenance worker found him on a path between buildings with a single gunshot wound to the head. It was Ann Arbor’s first homicide of the year.¹²

Investigators determined that three teenagers had tried to rob Klee of controlled substances, clothing, or shoes. They were Danta Wright, Jermarius Ellison, and Delrano Gracey.³

The Plea Agreement

Wright was charged as an adult with open murder, which if tried as felony murder carried mandatory life without parole. Under the agreement he took instead, Wright pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and felony firearm. Prosecutors dismissed the open murder count along with charges of conspiracy to commit unarmed robbery and conspiracy to commit larceny.⁴

The deal contained one unusual term. Wright would not be charged in the July 2015 shooting death of 20-year-old Keandre Duff in Ypsilanti, a killing tied to a feud between two Ypsilanti-area groups known as “Rakk Life” and “Finesse.” Another man, Tariq Jackson, had already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his role in Duff’s death.⁴⁵

The Pre-Trial Confession

At a pre-trial hearing, Wright admitted under questioning that he had shot Klee. An assistant prosecutor asked where. “In the top, by his head,” Wright answered, and confirmed the shot killed him. Klee’s mother sat feet away as he spoke. Wright remained calm.²

The Sentencing That Nearly Collapsed

On July 24, 2017, Wright appeared before Judge Swartz. Klee’s grandfather, cousin, and mother addressed the court. Karen Klee’s statement, read aloud by a cousin, described losing her only child. “This year was supposed to be a year of celebration,” she said. “Instead it was nightmare.” She told the court she hears her son screaming for her on the nights she manages to sleep.⁶

The statement spoke directly to Wright. “I hope that every time you want for a jacket, that you stay cold… every time you want for shoes, there is a hole in yours… every time you hope for your mother, she doesn’t come for a visit.” It closed: “But more than anything, because we and I am nothing like you, I don’t wish or hope any of that upon you.”⁶

Through all of it, Wright sat smiling, laughing, and shaking his head. When his turn came to speak, he did not apologize. “I just want to tell y’all I’ll be home soon,” he said. “I’ll be alright, I love my family.”⁷

Judge Swartz stopped the hearing. “Watching you sit there, smile, laugh, shake your head like this was no big deal,” he told Wright, “I’m very tempted to just say I’m not going to accept this sentencing agreement and we’ll go to trial.” He warned that a felony murder conviction would mean Wright would “go to prison for the rest of your life. That means you’ll die there.”⁸

Swartz asked prosecutors whether the deal was “too lenient” and called a recess of nearly an hour. During the break, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Vella went to the Klee family to ask whether they wanted to scrap the agreement and take the case to trial. When court resumed, Vella told the judge the family wanted to proceed. They wished to move on and, in Vella’s words, “attempt to forgive Wright.” Swartz accepted the plea.⁶⁴

Wright received 23 to 50 years for armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and second-degree murder, plus a consecutive two years for felony firearm, for an effective range of 25 to 52 years.⁴

What the Defense and Wright’s Mother Said

Wright’s attorney, David Goldstein, told the court the smiling was not disrespect. He attributed it to “fear, his age and behavioral problems” and said that “at his age, in his condition, he might not be able to express it as well as some other defendants.” Goldstein said Wright had asked him to apologize to the Klees on his behalf.⁴

After the hearing, Wright’s mother, Antronette Cartar, told reporters her son was innocent, said his “mental health concerns” were not adequately considered, and described the smiling as “how he handles everything.” She said she planned to pursue an appeal.⁹

The Gang Allegations

At sentencing, prosecutors alleged Wright was affiliated with a Ypsilanti-area group known as the “Finesse Gang” or “Finesse Tang.” They pointed to a handwritten letter Wright had allegedly sent to a convicted murderer that contained rap lyrics referencing gang-related deaths. Wright denied any gang involvement and denied writing the lyrics. Goldstein argued that rap lyrics are not necessarily factual. Judge Swartz included both the allegations and Wright’s denials in the presentence investigation report.⁴

The Co-Defendants

Judge Swartz sentenced Wright’s two co-defendants in March 2018. Both had pleaded guilty to armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and second-degree murder. Delrano Gracey, 18, was the first of the three to cooperate with police and apologized at sentencing to his mother, to the victim, and to the Klee family. He received 15 to 40 years. Jermarius Ellison, 19, apologized to his own family but not to the Klees, saying, “I really feel like most of it was all my fault, because I am the oldest.” He also received 15 to 40 years.³

Wright drew the longest sentence of the three because he was the one who admitted pulling the trigger.