Higgins fighting extradition to Michigan

Accused in murders of David and Vivian Bouwman

The suspect in a Kentwood double homicide is fighting extradition from Illinois, where he was arrested late last week.

David and Vivian Bouwman, ages 81 and 80, were found shot to death in their Princeton Estates home on Jan. 5. Police say they were killed in what started out as a home invasion.

Javonte Higgins, the main suspect in the homicides, was arrested Friday in Blue Island, not far from Chicago, on outstanding charges from a December 2012 Wyoming car theft.

Higgins, 22, was in a Cook County courtroom Tuesday for an extradition hearing. He refused to waive the hearing, meaning he will fight extradition. His next extradition hearing is scheduled for Feb. 20.

Higgins faces a count of automotive theft and a count of fleeing a police officer in the December incident. He allegedly stole a pickup truck from a Wyoming home and then led police on a brief chase before crashing the truck into a tree. He was seriously injured in that crash.

The Kent County Prosecutor's Office told 24 Hour News 8 it plans to hold Higgins on those Wyoming charges out as the Kentwood murder investigation continues. No warrants have been issued in the Bouwman case and it's not yet known exactly charges Higgins will face.

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