Teen Suspects Face Hearing in Traverse City Parking Deck Murder Case

A parking deck supervisor fought back emotion on the witness stand as he described finding his colleague motionless and bleeding inside the Larry C. Hardy Parking Deck, and a judge ultimately ruled there was enough evidence to send 17-year-old Eugene Thompson's first-degree murder case to the 13th Circuit Court.

"And then I saw him laying and um, I saw his face, his eyes, then I saw blood and then at that point I kind of knew he was, he wasn't responding," said Dan Yoou, Traverse City Parking Operations Supervisor, who testified at Friday's preliminary hearing in Grand Traverse County's 86th District Court.

Thompson faces seven counts connected to the Nov. 15, 2025 killing of Lawrence "Larry" Boyd IV, a 32-year-old Traverse City Parking Services employee who was on duty at the downtown structure when he was shot at approximately 9:30 p.m. Co-defendant Hunter Vanderwall, 18, also faces charges in the case, including felony murder, theft, and assaulting or resisting a police officer.

Several witnesses took the stand Friday, including Traverse City police officers and Yoou. The testimony was the culmination of a case that began when police reviewed security camera footage from inside the Hardy deck and identified Thompson and Vanderwall as suspects.

Grand Traverse County Assistant Prosecutor Kyle Attwood has described that footage in stark terms. Thompson, he said, "can be seen going back while the victim is dying to pick up his vape, which he then takes a couple hits off of and then moves on. And then after that, the two co-defendants continue to engage in the breaking and entering of motor vehicles."

Attwood told the court that Thompson pulled the trigger and that within hours of Boyd's death, the pair shot at Traverse City police officers. One officer was struck by a bullet but was uninjured because his ballistic vest prevented serious injury. The shooting prompted police to issue a shelter-in-place order for surrounding neighborhoods and briefly placed Northwestern Michigan College on lockdown.

Thompson, described as being from Leelanau County, was arrested outside a Super 8 Motel. Vanderwall was found and arrested on the NMC campus. Both were arraigned via Zoom from the Grand Traverse County jail, entered not guilty pleas, and were denied bond. Attorney Paul Jarboe, appointed to represent both at arraignment, offered condolences to Boyd's family during that hearing.

Thompson was found competent to stand trial at a March 6 hearing, where the court determined he has the mental capacity to understand the proceedings and assist in his own defense. The preliminary hearing, scheduled for 1 p.m. March 20 at the 86th District Court at 280 Washington St., concluded with the judge finding sufficient probable cause to advance his case to the 13th Circuit Court.

Interim City Manager Benjamin Marentette confirmed Boyd IV was on duty at the Hardy deck at the time of the shooting. In November 2025, Marentette said the city had no immediate plans for security updates at the structure but acknowledged that could change.

No trial date has been set. Thompson's case is assigned tracking number 05525003835 in Grand Traverse County courts.