James Lee Trussell, 21, has been found guilty of first-degree murder after reportedly stabbing a Howell High School graduate more than a dozen times in 2023 during an altercation in Ypsilanti.
Trussel was charged with open murder for the fatal stabbing of Ari Clarke on July 4, 2023. Under an open murder charge, prosecutors allowed the jury to decide whether the case met first- or second-degree criteria based on evidence presented at trial.
Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Patricia Reiser previously said Clarke, 22, was stabbed to death by Trussell because the defendant believed Clarke was “looking at his girlfriend.”…