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Man charged in the post-prom killing of Saginaw United senior Deon Wiley III was set for a preliminary exam Tuesday

A long, four-story concrete government building behind a row of trees, with a low wall in front reading Saginaw County Governmental Center and a wide lawn in the foreground.
The Saginaw County Governmental Center in Saginaw in July 2022, in a file photo. Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-adjusted; derivative under the same ShareAlike license.

SAGINAW, Mich. — The man charged in the shooting death of a Saginaw United High School senior just days before graduation was scheduled for a preliminary exam Tuesday, Oct. 20, WNEM reported. Results had not been reported publicly as of Wednesday morning, Oct. 21.

Travell Domonique Conway is charged with open murder, assault with intent to murder, carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent and three counts of felony firearm in the death of Deon Wiley III, 17. The exam was set for 1:30 p.m. before Judge M. Randall Jurrens, according to court records cited by the station.

At a preliminary exam, a judge hears evidence and decides whether there is enough to send a felony case to circuit court for trial.

The shooting. Wiley was shot the night of May 22, after his prom, in the parking lot of the Quick Stop near South Washington Avenue and Webber Street. Police believe the shooting happened during a “parking lot party,” an informal gathering, WNEM reported in August.

Prosecutors say surveillance video captured the shooting. In a bond recommendation, the Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office said it believed the probability of a conviction was high because of that video, according to WNEM.

The case so far. Conway, who was 18 when he was arraigned in August, is being held without bond and is represented by attorney Jeremy Lamar Tatum, according to court records cited by WNEM. A preliminary exam had first been set for Sept. 2, the station reported at the time. Open murder lets a judge or jury consider first- or second-degree murder, and a conviction on the most serious charge can bring a sentence of up to life without parole, WNEM reported.

Conway is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Updated Oct. 21, 2026: The Oct. 20 preliminary exam date has passed, so the headline and schedule details are now in the past tense. No outcome had been reported as of Wednesday morning; this story will be updated when one is.

Sources:
WNEM, “Man charged in shooting death of Saginaw United student to appear for preliminary exam Tuesday,” Oct. 19, 2026, https://www.wnem.com/2026/10/19/man-charged-shooting-death-saginaw-united-student-appear-preliminary-exam-tuesday/
WNEM, “Teen charged with open murder in post-prom shooting of Saginaw United senior,” Aug. 18, 2026, https://www.wnem.com/2026/08/18/teen-charged-with-open-murder-post-prom-shooting-saginaw-united-senior/
Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture, “Saginaw County Courthouse.jpg,” July 30, 2022, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saginaw_County_Courthouse.jpg

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