NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Two of the three people charged in the double murder of a foster family in Washtenaw County are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
Gregory Callhan, 37, and Keith Finley, 60, are due in court at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 16, for their preliminary examinations.
The third person charged in this case, Shuvonne Vinson, was in court on March 20 for a motion hearing, and the judge scheduled a hearing about her competency for May 22. Due to this, her preliminary examination has been delayed.
Vinson, Callhan and Finely are accused of being involved in the murder of Jennifer Bernhard, 42, and Stevie Smith, 74, and the attempted murder of Jeffrey Bernhard, 52, on Nollar Bend Road in Northfield Township on Jan. 1, 2025.
Charges in foster family double murder
Vinson, Callhan, and Finley are facing the following charges and the possibility of life in prison.
- 2 counts of open murder.
- 1 count of assault with intent to murder.
- 1 count of home invasion in the first degree.
- 2 counts of kidnapping -- child enticement.
- 1 count of conspiracy to commit murder.
- 1 count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping -- child enticement.
- 1 count of conspiracy to commit home invasion in the first degree.
- 1 count of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent.
- 1 count of stolen property -- receiving and concealing a motor vehicle.
- 1 count of felony firearm.
Vinson is also facing seven more charges:
- 4 counts of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer.
- 1 count of carrying a concealed weapon.
- 1 count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
- 1 count of possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.
Finley also faces an additional count of possession of a firearm by an ineligible person.
Foster family attacked
Jeffrey and Jennifer were married with a 9-year-old biological daughter and a 4-year-old foster child. The foster child is Vinson’s biological daughter. Both children witnessed the attack, according to police.
Northfield Township Detective Sgt. Jason Roberts testified about the events that unfolded.
A neighbor allegedly discovered a man had been shot in the face, and officers who responded to the scene were directed to a nearby address, where they discovered the other victims.
Roberts said that Jeffrey Bernhard told him that Vinson knocked on the door of their home before entering with two armed accomplices, Keith Finley and Gregory Callhan. After forcing Jeffrey and Jennifer to transfer funds to her bank account, the situation escalated quickly and violently, police said.
“Jeffrey stated to me that he was pistol-whipped first, hit with the butt of a gun… then he was shot in the chest, and then he was shot in the head,” Roberts said. “He said right after that, his wife was shot in the head.”
9-year-old daughter witnesses attack
The Berhards’ 9-year-old daughter told Roberts that she saw Vinson “shoot her father in the head, shoot her mom in the head, and her grandfather, Steven, was lying on the floor,” according to the detective’s testimony.
“[The 9-year-old] was no more than 20 feet away from her mother when this happened,” Roberts said.
9-year-old, 4-year-old foster child abducted
After Jennifer and her father, Stevie, were murdered, Vinson and her accomplices, Callhan and Finley, allegedly abducted the victims’ 9-year-old, the 4-year-old foster child and the family’s dog.
Vinson said she took the 9-year-old along so the girl wouldn’t go back inside and see what had happened to her family. Vinson claims she took the girl to protect her, Roberts said. But, Callhan said they took her because they “were going to take her and sell her for money.”
They headed to Vinson’s mother’s home in Ypsilanti Township, where the 4-year-old was dropped off.
3 arrested in Ypsilanti Township
Washtenaw County deputies saw the vehicle near Vinson’s mother’s home and conducted a traffic stop.
Vinson, Callhan and Finley were arrested, and the children were recovered safely.
When police asked Callhan why they went to the foster family’s home in Northfield Township, he said Vinson told him that she was going to go there and “kill them.”
Vinson told police that she went there “to protect her daughter and to prevent these people from ever harming another child again in their lives.”
Vinson goes off during arraignment
During Vinson’s virtual arraignment on Jan. 3, she interjected multiple times, even after her lawyer asked her to stay silent.
“I don’t care,” she said. “The m----------- f--- with my kids, f--- them and ya’ll.
“I’m telling you, I’m telling you right now. They f---- with my baby. They lying saying I f------ had my child around a (inaudible). (Inaudible) kids see s----, stop lying b----.
“These m----------- deserved to die, f------ with my kids, f---- them all.
“Let me up out of here, I’m done, bro. Like I said, f---- ‘em all. F--- with my baby, I’m not the m----------- that need to be in jail, b----.
“They need to be in—m----------- who f---- with me, you’ll see. Because you all on the recording.
“F---- them dead, m-----------, b----. F--- ‘em.
“I’m telling ya, f---- ‘em.
“They assaulted my m-------------- child, b----, and anybody else who would do that s---? (inaudible).
“Do you hear me? (Inaudible) The f---- you talkin’ ‘bout. Let me out.”
After that, Vinson left the Zoom call.
