Demand Accountability: Call for an Independent Investigation into Prosecutorial Conduct and Conflicts of Interest involving Karen McDonald, Marc Keast, and defense attorney Neil Rockind.

A young man lost his life. Despite multiple judges finding the defendant dangerous, he was released before trial. We demand answers, transparency, and accountability.

Stand with us not just as a grieving mother, but as a citizen demanding accountability from Oakland County Karen McDonald and her assistant prosecutor Marc Keast for abusing power.

Please support this petition calling for accountability from McDonald and Keast for releasing Nicholas Remington, who murdered my son Denis Preka live on Snapchat, under false pretenses.

Nicholas Remington was on probation in two different courts for drug-related offenses on the night my son was murdered. 
On June 11, 2019, Nicholas Remington was charged with Delivery of a Controlled Substance Causing Death and was held on a $1,000,000 cash bond by Magistrate Andrea Richardson due to the danger he posed to the community. 
At arraignment, Magistrate Richardson explained her decision under MCR 6.106, stating: “With respect to the amount of the bond, MCR 6.106(a) guides the court on how to set a bond and what to look for. The factors I must consider include your prior criminal record, whether you are out on bond or on probation, and whether there is a concern for your appearance. I am concerned about that, as this is a life offense. I must also consider any history of substance abuse or addiction, which your prior felony involved. I must consider your reputation for being dangerous. There is a concern for dangerousness when we look at the fact that the alleged conduct continued while you were on probation for a drug offense, and now someone has died as a result of these drugs.  I must also consider the seriousness of the offense. This offense is extremely serious—it caused the death of another person. For those reasons, I do find you to be a danger to our society and to the safety of the public. Bond is set at $1,000,000 cash surety, no 10 percent.”

For five month Hon Travis Reeds denied every singe hearing bond reduction. When the case was bound over, Hon Reeds stated: “Okay, so I’ve listened very carefully to both of your arguments with regard to bond. And I’ve already put my position on the record about understanding the forum on bond that’s sweeping this country. The problems that I have with this case with the reduction in bond are as follows. He’s on probation for a felony involving drugs. We have a dead young person as a result of actions related to this case. It’s very clear that Mr. Remington is a poor member of the community. He’s a drug dealer. That’s very clear from these Snaps. And the continuing behavior after this horrific event in dealing drugs, which could impact other people in the community, including potentially the death of other people. While I understand that a million dollars is an awful lot of money, my concern for the community is so high that I’m not going to lower the bond at this point. I don’t know how I could possibly control him. If someone dying from something like this didn’t stop him from dealing drugs, no piece of paper that I sign is going to do that.”

From October 17, 2019 through December 31, 2021, while Hon. Judge Alexander presided over the case, defense attorney Neil Rockind changed (adjourned) pretrial hearings six times.

1. November 6, 2019 — Pretrial scheduled for December 18, 2019
2. December 16, 2019 — Pretrial adjourned to January 22, 2020
3. January 22, 2020 — Pretrial adjourned to February 26, 2020
4. February 20, 2020 — Pretrial adjourned to March 23, 2020
5. February 24, 2020 — Pretrial again confirmed for March 23, 2020
6. July 22, 2020 — Trial date scheduled for December 7, 2020, at 8:30 a.m.
7. November 2, 2020 — Pretrial hearing held on the record
8. November 2, 2020 — Matter scheduled for pretrial at 3:00 p.m.

Then everything changed.

• In October 2020, defense attorney Neil Rockind made campaign contributions totaling ​$7,150 to McDonald the largest individual contribution at the time and has since contributed approximately $25,000 in total.
• Defense attorney Neil Rockind Publicly endorsing her candidacy on McDonald social media.
• After the election on November 3, 2020 McDonald appointed the defense attorney to her transition advisory committee. Per The Detroit News spokesperson Wattrick stated: “Neil Rockind, along with several other prominent local defense attorneys, were invited to participate in this advisory council during the transition in December 2020, well before Prosecutor McDonald was aware of this case. This informal advisory body was not exclusive and does not make policy. It was a vehicle for community input. These groups are open forums that continue to meet occasionally.

After McDonald took office on January 1, 2021 , within 68 days, McDonald Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast and defense attorney Neil Rockind filed a joint motion to reduce bond from $1 Million cash to $10,000.

On March 9, 2021, Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast presented a joint motion already signed together with defense attorney Neil Rockind titled “Stipulation to Modify Defendant’s Bond Status and for the Imposition of Conditions of Pre-Trial Release.” At the hearing, APA Keast misled the Court about two police reports, presenting them as exculpatory and leading the Court to believe they supported the defense. Based on those representations, Hon. Judge Victoria Valentine agreed to sign the stipulation. APA Keast  said “Yes,  Judge. As the Court knows, I was assigned the case in January of this year. I spoke with Mr. Rockind a number of times regarding some issues regarding discovery. I did discover from the beginning, in January, obtained a copy of the police report from beginning to end, and sent it to defense counsel—I believe January 28, 2021 is what my notes reflect. Counsel and co-counsel, Randy Lewis, went through the discovery. They made me aware last Tuesday night that there were two reports in particular that were not turned over to the defense. It appears that those two reports were in the prosecutor’s office possession in September or October of 2019. In my opinion, those two reports are exculpatory in nature and should have been turned over in a timely fashion. They were not.”

However, records show that those reports did not exist until January 28, 2021, when Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast and Detective Steve Balog created them, and the reports failed to reflect that Nicholas Remington’s Snapchat was tampered with evidence while he was in jail. Remington gave his best friend and eyewitness, Connor Gibaratz access to log on his snapchat account. Records further show that APA Keast was aware that Connor Gibaratz was involved in obstructing justice and was using Remington’s Snapchat account while he was in jail. APA Keast withheld the full Snapchat zip file—including pictures, videos, and transcripts in which Gibaratz admitted using Remington snapchat account—that had been provided by Novi Police, and did not present this information to Judge Victoria Valentine.

Despite this, defense attorney Neil Rockind argued that the account activity from the night of the crime was not his client.
The same argument the defense was previously made before Hon. Judge Travis Reeds, who nevertheless bound the case over on October 16, 2019.

Judge Reeds: “Okay. So, there has been a lot of arguments made. I’m sure that those arguments are not done. However, there is a couple of things that were raised? Is it possible that someone could hack your account and make messages? Yes. That’s true. That’s always true. But to assume that, I don’t think that’s rational. Was this account registered to him, were the messages made by him, that’s the another objection by the defense. I looked through every single one of these Snaps. Circumstantially, they clearly identify the username Hulkolas as Mr. Remington. There are references to the time frame of incarceration as being in jail. As what clearly appears to be a pattern of drug dealing at various different points there are requests for what appear to be Venmo payments, where Hulkolas is responding with Nicholas_Remington_1. There are Snaps where there is an address where Hulkolas is saying, “My addy is in Northville.” That’s where the defendant’s address is. At one point I think the defendant let me find it, at one point the defendant actually gives the street address in Northville of the house, so yes. All of those circumstantial facts could be made up by someone, but I think the more rational interpretation of all the context of these is that the Hulkolas is Mr. Remington. I think it would be a defiance of reason to think otherwise. They’re incomplete; you’re absolutely right they’re incomplete. But that doesn’t mean that what’s in there is wrong, it just means it’s not complete. If you got a medical record and four pages of the medical records were not there that wouldn’t mean that none of the medical records were admissible, but only that there were holes in that and that would go, in my opinion, to weight. Obviously higher and better minds will look at it, but I just don’t see any legitimate argument that this is not Mr. Remington’s account and that the statements made there are somehow inherently untrustworthy just because they’re not totally complete."There are many different responses that appear from the – a Snap that must have been posted on the 19th asking basically what is –what was he on, what was the kid on, what – various different versions of that where Hulkolas responds methylone, some Mol or Mol . And there is also some – there is also one pretty relevant Snap from a person that appears to be named on this application as Connor Gibaratz. I looked at the information, Connor Gibaratz is endorsed as a witness. The statements are, “You gave him methylone and Mol? That’s retarded. You fucking killed him. He’s a dumbass, but you killed him.” I think that’s the most clear Snap that Mr. Remington actually provided the drugs, but for probable cause standard I think the People have met their burden that he did in fact provide the drugs and I’m going to bind this matter over to the Oakland County Circuit Court as charged.
All of the evidence and facts—including findings reviewed by two judges and a civil jury award of $75 million—demonstrate the seriousness of this case. Yet decisions were made that resulted in the defendant’s release, based on representations about two police reports that raise serious concerns about their accuracy and timing.

I have evidence that raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving Karen McDonald and defense attorney Neil Rockind, as well as concerns about a failure to uphold the duty owed to victims and their families.

Rather than protecting those she swore to serve, these actions raise serious questions about whether other interests were prioritized over justice, public safety, and the value of human life.

This is unacceptable.
A prosecutor should stand as a shield for victims not side with defense attorney and campaign donors . For these reasons, Karen McDonald should not continue to serve as Oakland County Prosecutor. No family should ever have to wonder: Whether justice was sold and influenced by political connections.
I firmly believe the defendant’s release was influenced by the relationship between Neil Rockind and Karen McDonald, including campaign contributions and  appointing Neil Rockind to her transition team. These facts raise serious concerns about a conflict of interest and the appearance of impropriety in a case where the defense stood to benefit from prosecutorial decisions.

At a minimum, this relationship should have been fully disclosed to the Court, and recusal should have been seriously considered to protect the integrity of the proceedings. When that does not happen, it undermines confidence in the fairness of the justice system.

I am asking you to sign this petition because the person who was supposed to protect the victim failed to do so. The law already knows what happened.

I am asking you to stand with me because the person who was entrusted to protect justice and calls herself a prosecutor—failed in that duty. 

A real prosecutor stands for victims and protects the public, not sides with defense attorney and campaign donors and get drug dealer and murderer out of jail.

This is not justice but corruption. What happened to my son should never happen in this country.

Stand with us. Demand accountability. Demand answers. Demand justice for Denis. Hold Karen McDonald and Marc Keast accountable. Please Sign this petition.

Share this message and together lets demand transparency and accountability for Denis.
My son deserves justice and every victim family deserves a system they can trust.

1. Click this link for USA Today Story about Denis
2. Click this link for Detroit Free Press
3. Click this link for The Detroit News