FLINT, Mich. — A Flint man who spent decades in prison for a murder he committed as a teenager is returning behind bars, this time for a drunk driving crash that injured a Michigan State Police trooper.
Court records show 51-year-old Trevor Relerford, formerly known as Trevor Brownlee, was sentenced on November 24 to two to four years in prison for a crash on January 29 along I-75 in Buena Vista Township. Investigators say Relerford’s blood alcohol content was measured at .12, over Michigan’s legal limit for intoxication.
The crash happened while the trooper was assisting a motorist from a separate accident on the side of the highway. Both the trooper and the driver he was helping were hospitalized with minor injuries.
Saginaw County prosecutors say the case underscores the daily danger faced by law enforcement.
Relerford pleaded no contest to three charges, including operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
A Violent Past
Relerford’s history with the justice system stretches back more than three decades. At age 16, then known as Trevor Brownlee, he was convicted of murdering a teenager in Detroit in 1990 and received a mandatory life sentence without parole, which was standard for juvenile homicide cases at the time.
That changed after a landmark 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling determined mandatory life without parole for minors unconstitutional. Michigan revised its sentencing laws and in 2018 Relerford was resentenced to 29 to 60 years with credit for roughly 10,000 days already served. He was paroled later that same year and fully discharged from supervision soon after.
Now, following his latest conviction, he is once again headed back to prison.
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