‘He needs help, not jail’: Mother speaks out after son is charged with killing father in Detroit

DETROIT – A 23-year-old is behind bars accused of killing his father on Detroit’s eastside.

While family members wait for the bond hearing in the matter, the mother of the accused wants everyone to know her son is not a monster at all; he suffers from autism.

“This is hard on me, my husband, my son, everything. It’s so hard,” said mother, Percilla Poole.

On Saturday (March 22), Poole’s world was shattered when she came home to find her husband, 53-year-old Lamar Manassa Sr., allegedly killed at the hands of her son, 23-year-old Lemar Manassa Jr.

“I had just left. I was only gone for 15 mins. When I got home, he wasn’t in a rage. He wasn’t jumpy of anything like that. He was just calm and quiet,” Poole said.

Right now, it’s believed Lemar Senior was punched in the head repeatedly. Her son is now being charged with manslaughter – held on a $500,000 bond. But she’s not sure if investigators know her son has a disability.

“He looks big. He’s not your average 23-year-old. He got a mindset like an eight or 9-year-old. He still plays with action figures and stuff like that,” Poole said.

She says she hasn’t been able to contact anyone in the courts to let them know.

“I’ve been calling and calling since Tuesday when he got arraigned,” Poole said.

Local 4 legal expert Neil Rockind on how hard of a case this can now be.

“He’s obviously an adult, and he’s obviously rather large. But the fact is that if he suffered from some mental disability, then he could be deemed insane. What I would expect to happen tomorrow – I’m gonna guess his lawyer is likely to seek a bond reduction. My guess is that they’re likely to seek a referral to the center of forensic psychology,” said Rockind.

Either way, Percilla says she just wants the spread of misinformation to be calmed down; apparently, there are a bunch of lies going around about how Lemar Sr died and the reason why.

“People speculating and talking, they don’t know. You can say what you want to say, but if you weren’t there, you don’t know what went on. So I just want they to stop with all the lies and rumors. Everything,” Poole said.

His bond hearing is Thursday, March 27, 2025.

Poole is hoping to be there to get that bond lowered. Keep it here for updates.

In the meantime, click the following link if anyone wants to help the family during this rough and unfortunate time.