Former Canton man charged in violent gang assault

Doniel Heard

A former Canton Township resident has confessed to carving the name of his current gang affiliation into the chest of a 15-year-old boy.
Doniel Heard, 37, agreed to confess to the brutal attack as part of a plea deal in U.S. District Court last month. In exchange for his admitting to the crime, charges against him were reduced by prosecutors to assault with a dangerous weapon for racketeering. He is expected to be sentenced March 4 in federal court on the charges.

Heard admitted to prosecutors that he and three members of  the Members of Blood gang, Talash Willis of Flint, Kimberly Perryman of Mount Morris and Alina White of Waterford, punched and stomped on the teen victim as revenge for his disrespecting their gang. The four also beat the teen victim with a broomstick and robbed him, taking his watch, cash and marijuana. The four then reportedly ripped off the teen's t-shirt and Heard, the alleged leader of the gang, sat on the teen's chest and used a large knife to carve M.O.B. 662 in the victim's chest while the other three held him down, according to court documents. 
Following the knife attack, Heard placed video calls from his cell phone to other gang members showing them the carving in the victim's flesh and telling them to “look at my artwork” according to court documents.
Heard faces up to 20 years in prison and both Perryman and White will also be sentenced March 4. Willis is already serving a prison term that is set to end in 2025.
Prosecutors initially charged all four defendants with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and one count of interference with commerce by robbery. They were indicted by federal authorities in June of 2018.
 “As alleged in the indictment, this was a brutal attack on a 15-year old boy by a violent street gang,” United States Attorney Matthew Schneider said at the time of the indictment.  “We will continue to vigorously prosecute violent street gangs, especially those who target children.”