On Thursday, a trio of alleged drug dealers were charged in federal court for the slaying of ex-NFL linebacker Robert Eddins and 32-year-old Ricardo McFarlin. On Dec. 20, 2016, both Eddins and McFarlin were found in the basement of a home on Detroit's west side dead from gunshot wounds to the head after an apparent "execution-style slaying."
According to the Detroit News, the three men indicted were: Michael DeAngelo Griffin, 34, of Birmingham, Alabama; Clifton Dennis Epps, 30, of Amory, Mississippi; and Mariano Lozoya Garcia, 47, of Brownsville, Texas.
All three men are currently in custody and will be brought to Detroit in order to face charges. If they are convicted of the murder, drug, and weapons charges that are listed in the six-count indictment, then all three men face life in prison. The indictment also states that the three men came to Detroit from Alabama during a period where they dealt heroin and coke.
Eddins, who was first a product of Detroit Crockett High School, had been a linebacker for Ball State from 2007-10. During his time on campus, he racked up 167 tackles and 17 sacks. After that he signed with the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He went on to play just one regular season game for Buffalo before being put on injured reserved, and then about a week later he was waived. He later joined their practice squad, and once out of the NFL, attempted to join the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 2014 CFL preseason before getting cut after he injured his hamstring.
