Livonia, Michigan: Jury Convicts Krusell of Manslaughter in Livonia Stabbing, Clears Him of Murder

A Wayne County jury convicted Spencer Krusell, 30, of Highland Park of voluntary manslaughter on Wednesday, October 28, in the fatal stabbing of Nicholos Hatcher, 34, in Livonia, Michigan. The jury acquitted Krusell of the more serious charge of second-degree murder. Jurors deliberated for just over an hour before returning the verdict on Wednesday afternoon.

Krusell is scheduled to be sentenced on December 11 at 9:30 a.m. A second man in the case, Scott Harrington, 26, of Taylor, pleaded guilty to larceny charges and received two years of probation.

A stolen backpack and a confrontation

The case began on May 28, 2026. Hatcher was inside the Livonia Plasma Center when his backpack was stolen. He confronted Krusell and Harrington after the theft and followed them from the center to the area near Middlebelt Road and West Chicago Street, according to the trial reports.

Prosecutors showed jurors doorbell and surveillance video that they said captured Hatcher yelling at the men and punching before Krusell used a knife. Detectives identified the men and described the video evidence in court. Krusell testified in his own defense. He said he acted in self-defense, that he backed up repeatedly during the confrontation, and that he believed stabbing was his last resort. Prosecutors argued that his use of deadly force was not justified. The jury's verdict sided with neither account in full. It rejected second-degree murder and convicted on voluntary manslaughter.

The family in the courtroom

Harrington, who pleaded guilty to larceny and receiving and concealing stolen property, was sentenced to two years of probation on Monday, October 26, in the same courthouse, just before jury selection began in Krusell's trial. Hatcher's mother, Felisha Hatcher, spoke in court that day and said the probation sentence was not enough for the man whose theft set the chain of events in motion. "I've always said I think it's unfair," she said. "A great injustice through our legal system. Even though he set the chain of events to take place for my son's murder, he gets to walk away with probation, and I'm baffled and heartbroken."

Trial coverage reported that the family expressed mixed feelings after the manslaughter verdict, as the case moves to Krusell's sentencing in December. No sentence range was announced in the reports reviewed, and the court will set the terms on December 11.

For Livonia, the case closes the trial chapter of a killing that started with a stolen bag outside a plasma donation center in May and was decided by a jury in just over an hour, five months later.