A Macomb County jury convicted Damarion Goler of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his pregnant girlfriend, Talic Mersina.

The jury's verdict was second-degree murder, not first-degree, plus a separate count for the death of the unborn child, which Michigan charges as its own homicide offense. The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office did not announce the verdict until Wednesday, five days after jurors returned it. What Judge Matthew P. Sabaugh imposes on Dec. 3 is still open, and neither outlet reported the sentencing range.

A Macomb County jury on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, found Damarion Winston Goler, 33, of Sterling Heights, guilty of second-degree murder, homicide causing the death of an unborn fetus, and tampering with evidence in a homicide case, WDIV Local 4 and CBS Detroit reported Wednesday, citing the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office. WDIV reported the verdict followed a two-week trial. The victim was Goler's girlfriend, 31-year-old Talic Mersina, who was pregnant.

According to prosecutors, Goler stabbed Mersina multiple times near the door of their apartment in the area of 18 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue in Sterling Heights on March 24, 2024. WDIV reported that police arrived at the complex around 3 a.m. for a welfare check, found blood in the hallway and found no one inside the apartment. Later that day, Clinton Township police were called to the area of Harper Avenue and Glenwood Street on a report of a man covered in blood. Police found Goler and Mersina in her car in the parking lot of Goler's mother's apartment building, the prosecutor's office said. Goler was arrested, and Mersina was taken to a hospital, where she and her unborn child were pronounced dead.

"I hope this conviction brings some measure of closure to the victims' family," Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said in a statement. "The defendant has been held accountable for his actions, but no verdict can undo the tragic loss or erase the pain this family has endured." Goler has been held without bond in the Macomb County Jail since his arraignment in March 2024, both outlets reported. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, before Judge Matthew P. Sabaugh. Goler now stands convicted, and the protections of the presumption no longer apply to the counts the jury decided. The rule still holds for every person who has only been charged: All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.