Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 7

Detroit-Area Couple Face 15-Year Felony Charges After Tossing 'BYE BYE' Explosive at 72-Year-Old Neighbor

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 7

Detroit-Area Couple Face 15-Year Felony Charges After Tossing 'BYE BYE' Explosive at 72-Year-Old Neighbor

Q: What dark secret drove a suburban couple to toss a deadly, homemade explosive marked "BYE BYE" at their elderly neighbor?

No dark secret has been established in the public record. What is known is that prosecutors accuse Jason and Megan Showers of carrying out a targeted attack on their 72-year-old neighbor in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, by lighting and throwing a homemade explosive device marked “BYE BYE” into his yard. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive. The available reporting points instead to a disturbing mix of alleged access to weapons, bomb-making materials and Jason Showers’ lengthy criminal history. Investigators said a search of the couple’s home turned up firearms, ammunition and components used to assemble explosive devices, suggesting the incident was not an isolated prank but part of a broader, potentially dangerous situation. Jason Showers’ background is also central to the case. Prosecutors say he is a habitual offender with at least four prior felony convictions, and reporting cites convictions including manslaughter with a motor vehicle, operating under the influence causing death, cocaine possession and weapons offenses. Because of that record, he is also charged as a prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition, and he could face a life sentence if convicted on the most serious counts. So far, the evidence points to an alleged neighbor-directed explosive attack, but not to any confirmed hidden motive. Unless prosecutors disclose a dispute or other trigger in court, the real answer to why they allegedly did it remains unknown.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 7

Jason Showers, 45, and Megan Showers, 38, made their first court appearance after prosecutors said she lit a red cylindrical explosive marked "BYE BYE" and he threw it into their 72-year-old neighbor's yard Monday.
The neighbor extinguished the device, and a later search of the couple's St. Clair Shores home found firearms, ammunition and materials for assembling explosive devices, prosecutors said.
Both are charged with placing explosives near property and possessing bombs with unlawful intent, felonies carrying up to 15 years each; Jason also faces firearm and ammunition charges plus two felony-firearm counts.
Jason's criminal history raises the stakes: prosecutors said his status as a habitual offender with at least four prior felonies could allow a life sentence on any of the four top charges if convicted.
Bond was set at $100,000 cash-only for Jason and $20,000 for Megan with 10% allowed through a bondsman; both are barred from contacting each other or the neighbor, and a probable-cause hearing is set for Aug. 14.