Records: Lansing man told police he strangled, shot 5-year-old murder victim
LANSING — A Lansing man charged with killing a mother and her 5-year-old son told police he strangled the son before shooting both of them, according to court records.
Douglas Hill, 55, owned and lived at the home where the remains of Danielle Steiner, 34, and her 5-year-old son Aubrey Hall were found in early July.
Hill told police Steiner and Aubrey had lived next door for many years, and the pair moved in with him for one or two months in 2018, Michigan State Police Detective Isaac Mills testified at a hearing that led to criminal charges.
He said he and Steiner were in an intimate relationship, Mills testified. Hill told police that he and Steiner got in an argument on Father's Day of 2018, and Steiner packed a bag and left with her son with an unknown person in a vehicle. That was the last time he saw of them, he told police early in the investigation.
His attorney, Kenneth Marks, did not immediately respond for comment Monday.
Later, when police spoke to Hill in the Monroe County Jail, where he was being held on unrelated charges, he confessed to Steiner and Aubrey's murders, Mills testified.
Hill told police he strangled Aubrey and shot both Steiner and Aubrey, Mills said. He also said he buried them in his backyard at 800 Loa Street. Police believe Hill killed them in June 2018.
Hill was charged July 19 with two counts of murder and two felony weapons charges. He is in custody in the Ingham County Jail.
Steiner and Aubrey were reported missing in early August, more than a month after they were last seen. They'd been missing for more than a year when their remains were found.
Hill was in custody in Monroe County for second-degree home invasion, failure to stop at the scene of a crash and possession of open intoxicants in a vehicle.
Aubrey's father, Anthony Hall, said he did not report the pair missing because he had a warrant out for his arrest and was scared he would end up in jail if he went to police to file the report.
Hall figured Steiner was scared to go to court for a custody hearing in June 2018 and had taken Aubrey and fled, he said.
Hill is due back in court Sept. 20 for a hearing to determine if there is enough probable cause to stand trial.
Read more:
Lansing man arrested in murders of mother, son whose bodies were discovered in backyard
More men are reporting sexual assault, harassment to Michigan State University
2019 primary election: What you need to know about voting in Lansing on Tuesday
To get the most in-depth and up-to-date news on crime in the Lansing area, subscribe to the State Journal.
Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.