Security cameras caught the whole thing: seven shadowy figures sneaking up to a detached garage just after 1 a.m. on July 8, 2025. It was the third time the place on Mandon Drive had been hit in just a few months the same spot where dirt bikes kept getting stolen.
Dayton Knapton, 24, was inside when his phone buzzed with the alert. He told his girlfriend to call the police, grabbed his 9mm semiautomatic, and stepped out into the night.
Newly released security footage posted this week on X by @unlimited_ls and shown in court tells the rest. In the roughly 60-second clip, you see the group either still inside the garage or slipping out. Knapton fires two rounds straight through the closed, windowless, locked door. As the teens scatter and run, he squeezes off five more shots. Pure chaos kids bolting in every direction.
A tweet from X.
Seventeen-year-old Sivan Wilson from Pontiac caught a bullet and took off with the others. He didn’t get medical help for about 30 minutes and died later at Huron Valley Hospital. Another teen was hit in the leg but survived.
Prosecutors say Knapton actually went back inside to reload before stepping out again.
On November 7, 2025, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald charged him with manslaughter, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, and 2 counts of felony firearm. He pleaded not guilty and bonded out on $200,000. Five people from the group including 21-year-old Matthew Grinage and four juveniles now face breaking-and-entering charges.
McDonald didn’t mince words:
“The rights to own firearms and protect one’s family and home are fundamental. Those important rights also come with profound responsibility… He crossed the line by firing outside his home at fleeing persons. His actions not only took a life but potentially endangered the surrounding community by firing his weapon into the night.”
Knapton’s attorney, Dov Lustig, fired back that this was textbook self-defense “the purest example,” he called it. He described Knapton facing
“seven masked, hooded individuals exiting his property in the middle of the night, mere feet from him,”
heart pounding with
“fear, adrenaline and panic.” Lustig added, “He didn’t have a choice… You’re allowed to shoot at fleeing felons.”
Michigan’s Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground laws do let people use deadly force inside their home without retreating if they reasonably fear death or serious injury. But legal experts like Charlie Langton point out the clear limits: you can’t shoot someone just to protect property, there has to be an imminent threat to a person, a detached garage doesn’t always get the same protection as the house itself, and firing at people who are already running away is legally shaky ground.
Wilson’s family is furious and wants stronger charges. His sister Armani Madden said it flat out:
“It doesn’t make sense that it wasn’t done out of malice… everything in the report suggests that it was malicious intent.”
His father Shawn Madden put it simply:
“Sivan was running away and got shot.”
Online the reactions split right down the middle. Supporters are all over X with “FAFO” saying repeat burglars finally faced consequences. Critics call the shooting excessive. Race quickly became part of the conversation: Wilson was Black, Knapton is white, and Wilson’s relatives are pushing hard for murder charges instead of manslaughter.
The case is still in pretrial. After the preliminary exam on March 5, 2026, it’s heading toward trial. Whatever the jury decides, this one could draw a sharper line in Michigan and maybe across the country between defending your home and taking it too far.
