by Ran Britt
Demetrius Holloway was born in 1958 on the east side of Detroit, Michigan and grew up in the Brewster-Douglass Projects. His mother was a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service. Known as a meticulous dresser even in his youth, Holloway is said to have worn suits to high school. Holloway, a childhood friend of then-future drug kingpin Richard "Maserati Rick" Carter, also developed close ties to Frank "Big Frank Nitti" Usher and James "Red" Freeman in his late teens. Both Usher and Freeman were members of Murder Row, a street gang prominent in the late 1970s, whose primary source of income was importing heroin from Amsterdam to Detroit via New York.
In 1979, Holloway held a job as a postal clerk for a brief stint on Detroit's east side. That same year he received a federal conviction for interstate transportation of stolen goods, for which he served a five year prison sentence in Chicago, Illinois. Six months after his release in 1985, Holloway got a job managing the Chalk & Cue pool hall on Detroit's West 7 Mile Road.
Around this time, Holloway formed a partnership with lifelong friend Carter, who had by this time established himself as a successful drug trafficker. In 1986, Holloway used his share of the drug proceeds to purchase several acres of land in Alabama, open three sporting goods stores and also purchase apartment buildings in downtown Detroit that he managed through his company, Renter's Paradise. Holloway reportedly generated $17,000 monthly income legally from these businesses. During this period, police seized $32,000 from Holloway, which he was carrying in cash when he was arrested for disorderly conduct. $92,826 in cash was seized during another arrest following a traffic stop.
Holloway and Carter began consolidating their power by aligning themselves with 16-year old drug supplier Richard "White Boy Rick" Wershe, who was dating the wife of convicted drug kingpin Johnny Curry (of the Curry Boys) and niece of Detroit's then-mayor Coleman Young. They quickly expanded their supply chain by securing ties on both the east and west coasts by way of Miami and Los Angeles. Federal investigators credit the organization with becoming the first drug ring to take over the I-75 corridor, for use as a pipeline for transporting narcotics from Miami to Detroit.
Initially, Carter, with his boxing background, was the enforcer for the organization but the duo sought further protection as their business grew. They eventually incorporated the Best Friends gang, formerly the Wrecking Crew, into the organization for added muscle. The Best Friends consisted of four brothers: Reginald "Rockin' Reggie" Brown; Ezra "Wizard" Brown; Gregory "Ghost" Brown; and Terrance "Boogaloo" Brown. Aside from adding them to the payroll, Holloway and Carter provided the Brown brothers with assault weapons, bulletproof vests and defense attorneys when legal aid was needed.
Eventually, a rift developed between Holloway and the Browns, when the former objected to Carter introducing the brothers to his Colombian supplier. In December of 1986, Ezra Brown was killed when he and Terrance, who survived, were shot in a drive-by. Police were told by a confidential informant that Terrance subsequently placed Holloway at the top of a hit list following the murder of Gregory Brown in an ambush shooting the night of Ezra's funeral.
Around this time, agents of the Detroit office of the DEA seized two of Holloway's sporting goods stores and a Mercedes Benz from his mother as part of a federal investigation.
On September 12, 1988, Carter was murdered in his bed at Detroit's Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, where he was recuperating from gunshot wounds sustained in a shootout two days earlier. The next day, Holloway testified in Recorder's Court, which had exclusive jurisdiction over all felony cases committed in the City of Detroit, on behalf of James "Red" Freeman at the latter's weapons and drug trial. During the trial, Holloway testified that he earned more than $780,000 annually from casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey and Las Vegas, Nevada as a professional gambler. Investigators estimated that at his peak, 80% of the cocaine distributed in Detroit could be attributed to Holloway.
Not long after his testimony, Holloway staged his own kidnapping at the Eastside Detroit Top Hat hamburger stand. Witnesses reported hearing several gunshots prior to seeing a man, identified as Holloway, being thrown into the trunk of a red car.
In 1989, Lodrick "The Hitman" Parker, who was charged with Carter's murder, was arrested wearing a bulletproof vest ten days after his acquittal for firing shots into a Merrilville, Indiana home owned by Holloway.
During Holloway's disappearance, he traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to wed the sister of reputed drug trafficker Charles "Chuckie" Hardaway, Wanda Jean Hardaway.
After several months, Holloway returned to Detroit and in the first week of October, 1990, a woman who'd been called to testify before a grand jury seeking a federal indictment against Holloway was shot non-fatally while driving on I-75. In September, Richard Carter's oldest brother, Clyde, along with his girlfriend, were shot to death upon exiting his pickup truck with their 1-year-old son in what investigators believed to be an on-going war between rival drug organizations.
Monday, October 8, 1990, while shopping at the Broadway clothing store, located at 1247 Broadway in downtown Detroit, two blocks from Detroit Police headquarters, Holloway was fatally shot twice in the back of the head at about 4 p.m. His body was found minutes after the shooting with the handgun and $17,000 cash he was carrying. An attendant working at the parking lot just north of the Broadway told police that two young men driving a black, late-model BMW had pulled up 45 minutes prior to the shooting and ordered him not to park the car, before handing him the keys and walking off. When they returned, they paid the attendant $10 and drove away. Lodrick Parker was charged and acquitted of the killing.
In 1999, federal investigators alleged that Holloway's murder nine years earlier was carried out by hired gunman Lester Milton, who was accompanied by his younger brother, Thomas.
In 1979, Holloway held a job as a postal clerk for a brief stint on Detroit's east side. That same year he received a federal conviction for interstate transportation of stolen goods, for which he served a five year prison sentence in Chicago, Illinois. Six months after his release in 1985, Holloway got a job managing the Chalk & Cue pool hall on Detroit's West 7 Mile Road.
Around this time, Holloway formed a partnership with lifelong friend Carter, who had by this time established himself as a successful drug trafficker. In 1986, Holloway used his share of the drug proceeds to purchase several acres of land in Alabama, open three sporting goods stores and also purchase apartment buildings in downtown Detroit that he managed through his company, Renter's Paradise. Holloway reportedly generated $17,000 monthly income legally from these businesses. During this period, police seized $32,000 from Holloway, which he was carrying in cash when he was arrested for disorderly conduct. $92,826 in cash was seized during another arrest following a traffic stop.
Holloway and Carter began consolidating their power by aligning themselves with 16-year old drug supplier Richard "White Boy Rick" Wershe, who was dating the wife of convicted drug kingpin Johnny Curry (of the Curry Boys) and niece of Detroit's then-mayor Coleman Young. They quickly expanded their supply chain by securing ties on both the east and west coasts by way of Miami and Los Angeles. Federal investigators credit the organization with becoming the first drug ring to take over the I-75 corridor, for use as a pipeline for transporting narcotics from Miami to Detroit.
Initially, Carter, with his boxing background, was the enforcer for the organization but the duo sought further protection as their business grew. They eventually incorporated the Best Friends gang, formerly the Wrecking Crew, into the organization for added muscle. The Best Friends consisted of four brothers: Reginald "Rockin' Reggie" Brown; Ezra "Wizard" Brown; Gregory "Ghost" Brown; and Terrance "Boogaloo" Brown. Aside from adding them to the payroll, Holloway and Carter provided the Brown brothers with assault weapons, bulletproof vests and defense attorneys when legal aid was needed.
Maserati Rick and Demetrius Holloway
Around this time, agents of the Detroit office of the DEA seized two of Holloway's sporting goods stores and a Mercedes Benz from his mother as part of a federal investigation.
On September 12, 1988, Carter was murdered in his bed at Detroit's Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, where he was recuperating from gunshot wounds sustained in a shootout two days earlier. The next day, Holloway testified in Recorder's Court, which had exclusive jurisdiction over all felony cases committed in the City of Detroit, on behalf of James "Red" Freeman at the latter's weapons and drug trial. During the trial, Holloway testified that he earned more than $780,000 annually from casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey and Las Vegas, Nevada as a professional gambler. Investigators estimated that at his peak, 80% of the cocaine distributed in Detroit could be attributed to Holloway.
Not long after his testimony, Holloway staged his own kidnapping at the Eastside Detroit Top Hat hamburger stand. Witnesses reported hearing several gunshots prior to seeing a man, identified as Holloway, being thrown into the trunk of a red car.
In 1989, Lodrick "The Hitman" Parker, who was charged with Carter's murder, was arrested wearing a bulletproof vest ten days after his acquittal for firing shots into a Merrilville, Indiana home owned by Holloway.
During Holloway's disappearance, he traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to wed the sister of reputed drug trafficker Charles "Chuckie" Hardaway, Wanda Jean Hardaway.
After several months, Holloway returned to Detroit and in the first week of October, 1990, a woman who'd been called to testify before a grand jury seeking a federal indictment against Holloway was shot non-fatally while driving on I-75. In September, Richard Carter's oldest brother, Clyde, along with his girlfriend, were shot to death upon exiting his pickup truck with their 1-year-old son in what investigators believed to be an on-going war between rival drug organizations.
Monday, October 8, 1990, while shopping at the Broadway clothing store, located at 1247 Broadway in downtown Detroit, two blocks from Detroit Police headquarters, Holloway was fatally shot twice in the back of the head at about 4 p.m. His body was found minutes after the shooting with the handgun and $17,000 cash he was carrying. An attendant working at the parking lot just north of the Broadway told police that two young men driving a black, late-model BMW had pulled up 45 minutes prior to the shooting and ordered him not to park the car, before handing him the keys and walking off. When they returned, they paid the attendant $10 and drove away. Lodrick Parker was charged and acquitted of the killing.
In 1999, federal investigators alleged that Holloway's murder nine years earlier was carried out by hired gunman Lester Milton, who was accompanied by his younger brother, Thomas.
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