Detroit man pleads guilty but mentally ill to fatal Greyhound bus stabbing on Parkway East

A Detroit man who called his victim a “demon” pleaded guilty but mentally ill Wednesday to the fatal stabbing of a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in 2023.

Javon Garrett, 20, admitted to stabbing Cozell McQueen late at night on July 30, 2023, as the bus traveled along the Parkway East in Wilkins toward Washington, D.C.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos ordered Garrett to serve 10 to 30 years in state prison for third-degree murder.

According to Assistant District Attorney Grant Olson, Garrett stabbed McQueen in the neck with a knife he’d been carrying around 10:30 p.m.

Dozens of passengers on the bus told police the attack was unprovoked, and that Garrett had been harassing other passengers before he stabbed McQueen, 39, of Gary, Indiana.

The bus pulled over, and police were called. When they arrived, Olson said, Garrett told them, “I ain’t gonna lie, it feel (sic) good.”

“I ain’t never killed nobody neither … first time.”

Garrett also said, “He was a demon though. He took many souls.”

At Wednesday’s hearing, Garrett’s defense attorney, Leslie Perlow, told the court that her client went to Torrance State Hospital for treatment after his arrest.

“He’s been doing really well,” she said.

Dr. Sara West, a psychiatrist retained by the defense, wrote an expert report noting that Garrett had severe mental illness and without ongoing treatment, would likely experience another psychotic episode.

Olson said the prosecution did not challenge those findings.

Perlow described Garrett as a nice young man with no criminal record who fell through the cracks.

“Everybody thought everyone else was getting him help,” she said. “He has a mental illness, which is not an excuse but is an explanation for how he got to this point.”

Garrett’s uncle and siblings attended the hearing but did not speak.

Olson told the court that he had been unable to get in touch with McQueen’s relatives, and no one spoke on the victim’s behalf.

Perlow asked for a sentence of at least 10 years, and the prosecution agreed, noting that the defendant is young.

“The commonwealth is hopeful Mr. Garrett can live a productive and fruitful life,” Olson said.

Rangos set the maximum sentence at 30 years, she said, to ensure medication compliance.

“He will require sustained mental health treatment throughout his life,” she said.