Public Media from Michigan State University

Lansing families long for answers to 65 cold cases

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio

Monica Blackwell's son, Dominique Ardister, was murdered in May 2012. His case remains unsolved.
Kevin Lavery

There have been some 65 unsolved murders in the city of Lansing since the mid-1960’s. Current State’s Kevin Lavery reports on one Lansing woman’s struggle to find peace four years after her son’s murder.

A Lansing mother is marking a sad anniversary today. Four years ago, Dominique Ardister was gunned down in the driveway of his south Lansing home. His murder remains unsolved.

Ardister’s mother, Monica Blackwell, wants answers. She has her suspicions about who was responsible for her son’s death on May 25, 2012, but with little information to go on, the Dominique Ardister case has grown cold.

More than 60 homicides have gone unsolved in Lansing since the mid-1960’s. The reasons are complex and difficult to pinpoint, but what’s clear is that each act of violence that ends a life carries a lifetime of pain for the victim’s loved ones left behind.

Current State’s Kevin Lavery has the story.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Kevin Lavery served as a general assignment reporter and occasional local host for Morning Edition and All Things Considered before retiring in 2023.