The night before Gino Chouinard was fatally injured on a stretch of a popular trail in Michigan’s capital last fall, the 54-year-old missed the admission window of a homeless shelter by minutes, according to his uncle.
“They didn’t let him into the shelter,” Robert Chouinard told CNN of his nephew. “They’re pretty strict with the rules. He called his girlfriend and told her he was going to sleep by the river.”
Gino Chouinard was found unconscious with head trauma and other injuries on the morning of Oct. 14, 2025. He died 13 days later in what would be the first in a series of violent deaths on the same stretch of the Lansing River Trail, police said.
In total, at least five deaths have been reported since October 2025, with the city’s police chief saying investigators believe the crimes may represent a “pattern” targeting unhoused white men, and the mayor seeking to reassure the public that the area remains safe for visitors.
“One of the questions we get is, ‘Do we have a serial killer in Lansing?'” Police Chief Robert Backus told reporters last week, adding that investigators were looking into the possibility “that these are related cases.”
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said in a statement that a suspect in at least one of the deaths was in custody and that police were investigating “all possible connections.”
“These attacks specifically targeted men who were unsheltered and sleeping along the river path at night, particularly from midnight to 6 a.m.,” Schor said. “We know the general public was not targeted by these attacks. …The Lansing River Trail and our downtown remain safe for residents and visitors.”
The deaths occurred along a stretch of the more than 20-mile-long paved trail that winds and connects numerous parks, Michigan State University, downtown Lansing and other areas. The trail is frequented by cyclists, runners and walkers.
Chouinard, who was a gifted wrestler and football player in high school, found himself intermittently homeless after a stint in the National Guard in Iraq in the early 2000s, his uncle said.
“Gino was a state champion wrestler in high school, an elite athlete, and I checked his knuckles and his knees. There was no defensive injury, no wrestling, no fighting at all,” Robert Chouinard said, adding that his nephew had a crushed skull and six broken ribs. “So apparently he was sleeping and he got it in the back of his head.”
It was only this summer that another man was injured on the same trail and died. Denis Dunnebacke, 70, was found on the trail near the Kalamazoo Street Bridge with facial injuries July 9 and died a few days later, police said.
The medical examiner has not ruled on the death. Some medical staff at the hospital said the incident could have been “medical in nature” and police treated the incident as “suspicious,” Backus said.
The next death involved 57-year-old Robert Smith, who police say was found on the trail the morning of July 13. He was unconscious and bleeding from the head. He was taken to hospital, where he died a few days later. His death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner last month, police said.
Another man, Daniel Lusk, 22, was found stabbed to death early in the morning of Aug. 20, Backus said. A suspect has been charged with murder in connection with Lusk’s death, prosecutors said.
The man remains in custody without bail and has been remanded for a competency evaluation, according to court records. The suspect’s attorney, who has no connection to the other deaths under investigation, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The fifth death involved Louis Woodruff, 57, who was found with facial injuries on August 30, according to police. He died on September 1st and his death was ruled a homicide.
Backus said no other “assault-related deaths” have been reported at the trail.
“We suspect that in these cases the injuries occurred during the night… We believe our victims… were lying down, or even sleeping,” the police chief said.
At the time of the incidents, Backus said, there were no cameras or witnesses in the area. Since then, cameras have been moved to the trail, patrols have been stepped up and social workers have contacted unhoused people in the area.
“I don’t want anyone to feel like we’re not paying attention,” Bakus told reporters. “Or that we’re not taking this seriously.”
After his nephew’s death, Robert Chouinard said he was concerned about the safety of the community he grew up in and wondered if information about the deaths had not been shared publicly to avoid spreading alarm. Scott Bean, a city spokesman, said by email that “nothing is being swept under the rug.”
“In my opinion, there is a serial killer on the loose,” said Robert Chouinard. “He’s either a serial killer or a copycat. … Gino was a tough kid, a beautiful kid, handsome, a wonderful personality.”
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