LANSING, Mich — Miranda Hinton remembers the exact date she lost her son Marcus Jackson and his half brother Steven. They were shot and killed at a restaurant on the Southside of Lansing on Aug. 4, 2020.
"There's no other pain worst than that," Hinton said.
The killer, Zacharey Diederichs, was 31 years old at the time of the shooting. He was eventually charged with open murder. Court documents revealed Diederichs had an extensive criminal history.
"From my understanding, he had two gun charges, domestic violence had just been paroled 5 months and 29 days before this incidents," Hinton said.
Hinton believes Diederichs should not have had access to guns. That belief is why she supports Extreme Risk Protection Orders, or ERPOs — also known as red flag laws — which were passed months after the Michigan State University mass shooting in 2023.
"These are also called red flag laws. These are laws that the legislature passed who could be dangerous and you could get an extreme risk protection order to make sure they don't have guns. So if someone is a danger to society or if someone has mental health issues," said Lansing Mayor Andy Schor.
ERPO was implemented in 2024. Since then, the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office says at least 18 orders have been filed.
Schor said knowledge is key and that working together is crucial. On Friday, he joined law enforcement, advocates and other city leaders for an ERPO informational session. Talking points included when the order is acceptable, who it impacts and how to implement it.
We asked Mayor Schor what implementation looks like.
"Being able to us it as needed," Schor said.
For Hinton, she is glad conversations around ERPOs are finally happening.
"We should have had these orders maybe 5 years ago and maybe my son would be here today," Hinton said.
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