The Latest Controversy Involving Mayor Sheffield and Her Ex-Boyfriend Isn't Going Away Anytime Soon
The Latest Controversy Involving Mayor Sheffield and Her Ex-Boyfriend Isn't Going Away Anytime Soon
September 20, 2026, 12:35 AM by Allan Lengel
Months into her first year, newly minted Mayor Mary Sheffield, the first woman to occupy the office, was enjoying a honeymoon at Detroit's City Hall. She attended ribbon cuttings, issued press releases and made grand pronouncements, all while garnering mostly good press.
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Ex-boyfriend Marvin Walker and Mary Sheffield (Photo: Michigan Enjoyer)
Then in August, in a normally sleepy stretch in government, a juicy scandal of tabloid proportions, involving an ex-boyfriend, Marvin Walker, dropped, abruptly derailing the honeymoon, opening the door for a steady stream of pundits and giving the 39-year-old mayor reason to reach for the Rolaids.
While the facts may be fuzzy, what is clear: This mess isn't going away anytime soon.
The FBI and the Detroit Inspector General are reportedly involved. And as many know, an FBI investigation can move at a tortoise pace, potentially going well beyond one year.
Very publicly, it all began with Charlie LeDuff of the Michigan Enjoyer, who reported that Police Chief Todd Bettison had called activist Jahdante Smith to ask him to remove from social media romantic photos of Sheffield and ex-boyfriend Marvin Walker, who has criminal convictions for forgery and identity theft. Smith refused to comply. Bettison also asked Walker to have the photos removed.
Bettison later insisted he was acting on his own, not at the behest of the mayor, telling the Freep he got involved "as a man and a father. I found (the photos) to be inappropriate and believed they were intended to shame and humiliate a woman."
The Inspector General is looking into Bettison's role, which also involves criminal investigations into Walker and Smith.
LeDuff also reported that Walker alleged that he was the bagman for Sheffield while she sat on City Council, delivering her kickbacks from schemes including those with realtors. Walker subsequently told the Free Press: "I never said no one gave me a kickback and that I gave it to her, that was not the conversation."
LeDuff is adamant that he did allege kickbacks.
Before the latest controversy surfaced, the FBI already had an ongoing investigation into another former Sheffield ex-boyfriend, Brian McKinney, CEO of Gayanga Co., a Detroit-based contractor suspected of using contaminated dirt to backfill demolition sites of Detroit homes. Sheffield approved millions of dollars in contracts as a council member while the two dated in 2019. It was an investigation that began at the end of Mayor Mike Duggan's term last year.
Both Sheffield and McKinney have denied wrongdoing. Sheffield last year, while running for mayor, initially said she never voted in favor of any of those contracts, which simply was not true, as city records show.
In the latest controversy involving Marvin Walker, Sheffield spoke up, insisting she never asked Bettison to intervene about the photos and vehemently denied taking kickbacks.
Sheffield said "private photographs and communications have been used to bully, harass, and intimidate me for clear political reasons."
"I have largely remained silent, but I must address these issues due to Mr. Walker fabricating lies in an apparent attempt to protect himself from criminal and legal issues. No city funds were ever provided to Mr. Walker nor has he received any city contract. Let me also make it clear that I have never received a kickback of any kind."
Loaned Money
She also said she had loaned Walker tens of thousands of dollars and that she never received money from him. She told WWJ-950 that Walker did receive âa total of $1,800 from a nonprofit for services he provided for community events like all other vendorsâ in 2019. The nonprofit was the fiduciary for Occupy the Corner, an event spearheaded by Sheffield, according to the Detroit Free Press.
If there's a lull in this mess, it won't be for long.
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Chief Todd Bettison at press conference
A draft of a lawsuit by Marvin Walker, which LeDuff reports will be filed next week in Wayne County Circuit Court, alleges that Sheffield sicced Chief Bettison and close mayoral appointees to intimidate and harass him to get him to purge romantic photos and video of him and Sheffield and politically harmful texts. Bettison declined to comment to Deadline Detroit.
Walker, who operates a home for veterans and boasts of his charitable givings in the community, including Thanksgiving turkey giveaways, makes no mention of any major kickback allegations in his drafted lawsuit and only references one specific text suggesting a couple thousand dollars was exchanged with Sheffield.
Walker has said he began dating Sheffield in December 2020. They traveled together, but eventually the relationship fizzled.
Those trying to make sense of this controversy --- and the back-and-forth allegations and denials -- might have a better chance of deciphering the proprietary information of Apple's latest products.
In other words, it's complicated.
Coming Under Scrutiny
How Sheffield has handled this so far has been subject to scrutiny from pundits.
Adolph Mongo, a political observer and host of the podcast Detroit in Black and White, says the scandal reminds him of when Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was embroiled in a controversy over the use of city funds and police department budgets to lease a Lincoln Navigator for his wifeâs personal use while cutting government jobs and services.
Like the Lincoln Navigator case, Mongo said this one, "is not going away. It gains traction every day."
WDIV's Jason Colthorp
Last Sunday, Sheffield canceled her appearance on WDIV's "Flashpoint" when her handlers were told that host Jason Colthorp would be asking about the Marvin Walker controversy.
"When asked if we would be talking about the recent controversy, I told them yesâthat too," Colthorp told Deadline Detroit last week. "By the afternoon, new conversations about not wanting to talk about it, and I informed themâI would get laughed out of my job if I didnât ask about it. Then they decided she would not answer any questions about that and if I asked them, sheâd end the interview and get up and leave. I wasnât looking for a viral confrontation, so I said thereâs no way Iâm doing the interview without asking those questions. They canceled it. I said Iâd have to go on air and explain why, so they discussed againâand reaffirmedâno interview."
John Roach, a spokesman for the mayor, said in a statement to Deadline Detroit last week:
"Channel 4 changed the terms at the last minute, not the mayor. The mayor was prepared to tape the Flashpoint segment based on the topics that Channel 4 had agreed upon weeks earlier. One day before the taping, Channel 4 informed us they no longer were going to honor that longstanding agreement."
Colthorp at the last minute gathered a group of pundits to fill the airtime, and the first thing they talked about was how Sheffield was handling the matter.
"I think she's gotta come out and give an explanation that gives the full story at this point," said panelist Stephen Henderson, a veteran journalist and former head of the Detroit Free Press Editorial page. "What she said I thought raised more questions than provided answers and that's always a mistake in the PR game."
Echoed panelist Nolan Finley, Detroit News editorial page editor:
"This is the moment to be talking. I mean she should be sitting here. If she feels that this is about to engulf her administration, the more she can get out and be public and talk about it and make it clear to people that she has nothing to hide, if she has nothing to hide, the better off she is."
Jason Roe, a Republican strategist, noted that Sheffield was probably taking cues at this point from lawyers, rather than public relations people, who probably want her to say less than more.
"I think she's in a no-win situation right now," he said.
Move On
Featured_awiley_26988
Alexis Wiley
The most sympathetic panelist was Alexis Wiley, a public relations specialist who served as Mayor Mike Duggan's chief of staff from 2014-2020. She reminded people that the ex-boyfriend Walker had walked back his allegations about kickbacks, diluting his credibility.
"This guy himself has said...that this is not true," she said. "He's backtracking this whole story." She said it was time for the mayor to move forward and focus on the people she serves.
At times, the narrative has been confusing, particularly when it comes to Jahdante Smith, a community activist who posted the controversial photos. Smith was asked by Chief Bettison to remove the photos from social media, but he refused.
Subsequently, the Freep reported Detroit police confiscated a cell phone belonging to Smith on August 19 while he was walking downtown with his young son. Police said the phone seizure involved an unrelated complaint from a woman regarding alleged online harassment and a threatening phone call. Smith was never charged.
Fox 2's Charlie Langton (L) and Jahdante Smith on the show
On Aug. 28, Smith appeared on Charlie Langton's Fox 2 show "Detroit Talk City" and provided some evasive and at times confusing answers about why he posted romantic photos of Marvin Walker and the mayor on social media.
"Why would you post these pictures now?" Langton asked.
Smith said the photos were sent to him by Walker, who asked him to post them. He said he eventually did, but it was his decision to do so.
Langton asked: Why would Walker want the photos posted?
"I can't speak to his motivation," Smith replied, adding that he had the photos for months. He said he believed Walker shared photos of Sheffield with other people as well, possibly to show that he had connections, which would help his business ventures.
Smith, who described himself as an associate of Walker "for a little while," explained that he posted the photos publicly to encourage people to come forward and speak out about allegedly being victimized by Walker. He did not elaborate on what he suspects Walker might have done.
"At that moment we were at odds, in my opinion, because I did not want to associate with him after what I learned," Smith said, again not elaborating.
"It's not about being upset," he said about posting the photos. "I feel like I've been used or manipulated or tricked by Marvin."
Langton, the host, did his best to peel the onion back and try to piece together a comprehensive, make-sense narrative. But Smith was too guarded.
As for Sheffield, Smith said: "I've known her for a number of years. But this is not personal."
He said he's known Chief Bettison for years, but when he asked him to remove the photos, he refused because "I don't believe in being silenced."
The Former Chief
Featured_facebook_shop_-_2026-05-23t152048.668_59770
Former Chief James Craig on Detroit in Black and White
Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig weighed in on the matter on the ML Soul of Detroit podcast last week, expressing some skepticism, suggesting Bettison may not have been truthful when he said he acted on his own to try and get Sheffield's photos removed.
Craig says if in fact Bettison lied and was actually directed by someone in the mayor's office to intervene in the matter, "it's time for you to step down."
Speculation runs wild as to what ultimately happens to Mayor Sheffield and Chief Bettison.
LeDuff speculates that their future is bleak, writing in the Michigan Enjoyer:
"Detroit City Hall is on fire. It is no longer a question of ifâbut when and howâDetroit Mayor Mary Sheffield and Police Chief Todd Bettison will be removed from office."
Whatever the case, the only certainty is that this mess is here to stay for now.
https://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/35088/the_latest_controversy_involving_mayor_sheffield_and_her_ex-boyfriend_isn_t_going_away_anytime_soon
September 20, 2026, 12:35 AM by Allan Lengel
Months into her first year, newly minted Mayor Mary Sheffield, the first woman to occupy the office, was enjoying a honeymoon at Detroit's City Hall. She attended ribbon cuttings, issued press releases and made grand pronouncements, all while garnering mostly good press.
Featured_walker_and_sheffield_60184
Ex-boyfriend Marvin Walker and Mary Sheffield (Photo: Michigan Enjoyer)
Then in August, in a normally sleepy stretch in government, a juicy scandal of tabloid proportions, involving an ex-boyfriend, Marvin Walker, dropped, abruptly derailing the honeymoon, opening the door for a steady stream of pundits and giving the 39-year-old mayor reason to reach for the Rolaids.
While the facts may be fuzzy, what is clear: This mess isn't going away anytime soon.
The FBI and the Detroit Inspector General are reportedly involved. And as many know, an FBI investigation can move at a tortoise pace, potentially going well beyond one year.
Very publicly, it all began with Charlie LeDuff of the Michigan Enjoyer, who reported that Police Chief Todd Bettison had called activist Jahdante Smith to ask him to remove from social media romantic photos of Sheffield and ex-boyfriend Marvin Walker, who has criminal convictions for forgery and identity theft. Smith refused to comply. Bettison also asked Walker to have the photos removed.
Bettison later insisted he was acting on his own, not at the behest of the mayor, telling the Freep he got involved "as a man and a father. I found (the photos) to be inappropriate and believed they were intended to shame and humiliate a woman."
The Inspector General is looking into Bettison's role, which also involves criminal investigations into Walker and Smith.
LeDuff also reported that Walker alleged that he was the bagman for Sheffield while she sat on City Council, delivering her kickbacks from schemes including those with realtors. Walker subsequently told the Free Press: "I never said no one gave me a kickback and that I gave it to her, that was not the conversation."
LeDuff is adamant that he did allege kickbacks.
Before the latest controversy surfaced, the FBI already had an ongoing investigation into another former Sheffield ex-boyfriend, Brian McKinney, CEO of Gayanga Co., a Detroit-based contractor suspected of using contaminated dirt to backfill demolition sites of Detroit homes. Sheffield approved millions of dollars in contracts as a council member while the two dated in 2019. It was an investigation that began at the end of Mayor Mike Duggan's term last year.
Both Sheffield and McKinney have denied wrongdoing. Sheffield last year, while running for mayor, initially said she never voted in favor of any of those contracts, which simply was not true, as city records show.
In the latest controversy involving Marvin Walker, Sheffield spoke up, insisting she never asked Bettison to intervene about the photos and vehemently denied taking kickbacks.
Sheffield said "private photographs and communications have been used to bully, harass, and intimidate me for clear political reasons."
"I have largely remained silent, but I must address these issues due to Mr. Walker fabricating lies in an apparent attempt to protect himself from criminal and legal issues. No city funds were ever provided to Mr. Walker nor has he received any city contract. Let me also make it clear that I have never received a kickback of any kind."
Loaned Money
She also said she had loaned Walker tens of thousands of dollars and that she never received money from him. She told WWJ-950 that Walker did receive âa total of $1,800 from a nonprofit for services he provided for community events like all other vendorsâ in 2019. The nonprofit was the fiduciary for Occupy the Corner, an event spearheaded by Sheffield, according to the Detroit Free Press.
If there's a lull in this mess, it won't be for long.
Featured_bettison_59187
Chief Todd Bettison at press conference
A draft of a lawsuit by Marvin Walker, which LeDuff reports will be filed next week in Wayne County Circuit Court, alleges that Sheffield sicced Chief Bettison and close mayoral appointees to intimidate and harass him to get him to purge romantic photos and video of him and Sheffield and politically harmful texts. Bettison declined to comment to Deadline Detroit.
Walker, who operates a home for veterans and boasts of his charitable givings in the community, including Thanksgiving turkey giveaways, makes no mention of any major kickback allegations in his drafted lawsuit and only references one specific text suggesting a couple thousand dollars was exchanged with Sheffield.
Walker has said he began dating Sheffield in December 2020. They traveled together, but eventually the relationship fizzled.
Those trying to make sense of this controversy --- and the back-and-forth allegations and denials -- might have a better chance of deciphering the proprietary information of Apple's latest products.
In other words, it's complicated.
Coming Under Scrutiny
How Sheffield has handled this so far has been subject to scrutiny from pundits.
Adolph Mongo, a political observer and host of the podcast Detroit in Black and White, says the scandal reminds him of when Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was embroiled in a controversy over the use of city funds and police department budgets to lease a Lincoln Navigator for his wifeâs personal use while cutting government jobs and services.
Like the Lincoln Navigator case, Mongo said this one, "is not going away. It gains traction every day."
WDIV's Jason Colthorp
Last Sunday, Sheffield canceled her appearance on WDIV's "Flashpoint" when her handlers were told that host Jason Colthorp would be asking about the Marvin Walker controversy.
"When asked if we would be talking about the recent controversy, I told them yesâthat too," Colthorp told Deadline Detroit last week. "By the afternoon, new conversations about not wanting to talk about it, and I informed themâI would get laughed out of my job if I didnât ask about it. Then they decided she would not answer any questions about that and if I asked them, sheâd end the interview and get up and leave. I wasnât looking for a viral confrontation, so I said thereâs no way Iâm doing the interview without asking those questions. They canceled it. I said Iâd have to go on air and explain why, so they discussed againâand reaffirmedâno interview."
John Roach, a spokesman for the mayor, said in a statement to Deadline Detroit last week:
"Channel 4 changed the terms at the last minute, not the mayor. The mayor was prepared to tape the Flashpoint segment based on the topics that Channel 4 had agreed upon weeks earlier. One day before the taping, Channel 4 informed us they no longer were going to honor that longstanding agreement."
Colthorp at the last minute gathered a group of pundits to fill the airtime, and the first thing they talked about was how Sheffield was handling the matter.
"I think she's gotta come out and give an explanation that gives the full story at this point," said panelist Stephen Henderson, a veteran journalist and former head of the Detroit Free Press Editorial page. "What she said I thought raised more questions than provided answers and that's always a mistake in the PR game."
Echoed panelist Nolan Finley, Detroit News editorial page editor:
"This is the moment to be talking. I mean she should be sitting here. If she feels that this is about to engulf her administration, the more she can get out and be public and talk about it and make it clear to people that she has nothing to hide, if she has nothing to hide, the better off she is."
Jason Roe, a Republican strategist, noted that Sheffield was probably taking cues at this point from lawyers, rather than public relations people, who probably want her to say less than more.
"I think she's in a no-win situation right now," he said.
Move On
Featured_awiley_26988
Alexis Wiley
The most sympathetic panelist was Alexis Wiley, a public relations specialist who served as Mayor Mike Duggan's chief of staff from 2014-2020. She reminded people that the ex-boyfriend Walker had walked back his allegations about kickbacks, diluting his credibility.
"This guy himself has said...that this is not true," she said. "He's backtracking this whole story." She said it was time for the mayor to move forward and focus on the people she serves.
At times, the narrative has been confusing, particularly when it comes to Jahdante Smith, a community activist who posted the controversial photos. Smith was asked by Chief Bettison to remove the photos from social media, but he refused.
Subsequently, the Freep reported Detroit police confiscated a cell phone belonging to Smith on August 19 while he was walking downtown with his young son. Police said the phone seizure involved an unrelated complaint from a woman regarding alleged online harassment and a threatening phone call. Smith was never charged.
Fox 2's Charlie Langton (L) and Jahdante Smith on the show
On Aug. 28, Smith appeared on Charlie Langton's Fox 2 show "Detroit Talk City" and provided some evasive and at times confusing answers about why he posted romantic photos of Marvin Walker and the mayor on social media.
"Why would you post these pictures now?" Langton asked.
Smith said the photos were sent to him by Walker, who asked him to post them. He said he eventually did, but it was his decision to do so.
Langton asked: Why would Walker want the photos posted?
"I can't speak to his motivation," Smith replied, adding that he had the photos for months. He said he believed Walker shared photos of Sheffield with other people as well, possibly to show that he had connections, which would help his business ventures.
Smith, who described himself as an associate of Walker "for a little while," explained that he posted the photos publicly to encourage people to come forward and speak out about allegedly being victimized by Walker. He did not elaborate on what he suspects Walker might have done.
"At that moment we were at odds, in my opinion, because I did not want to associate with him after what I learned," Smith said, again not elaborating.
"It's not about being upset," he said about posting the photos. "I feel like I've been used or manipulated or tricked by Marvin."
Langton, the host, did his best to peel the onion back and try to piece together a comprehensive, make-sense narrative. But Smith was too guarded.
As for Sheffield, Smith said: "I've known her for a number of years. But this is not personal."
He said he's known Chief Bettison for years, but when he asked him to remove the photos, he refused because "I don't believe in being silenced."
The Former Chief
Featured_facebook_shop_-_2026-05-23t152048.668_59770
Former Chief James Craig on Detroit in Black and White
Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig weighed in on the matter on the ML Soul of Detroit podcast last week, expressing some skepticism, suggesting Bettison may not have been truthful when he said he acted on his own to try and get Sheffield's photos removed.
Craig says if in fact Bettison lied and was actually directed by someone in the mayor's office to intervene in the matter, "it's time for you to step down."
Speculation runs wild as to what ultimately happens to Mayor Sheffield and Chief Bettison.
LeDuff speculates that their future is bleak, writing in the Michigan Enjoyer:
"Detroit City Hall is on fire. It is no longer a question of ifâbut when and howâDetroit Mayor Mary Sheffield and Police Chief Todd Bettison will be removed from office."
Whatever the case, the only certainty is that this mess is here to stay for now.
https://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/35088/the_latest_controversy_involving_mayor_sheffield_and_her_ex-boyfriend_isn_t_going_away_anytime_soon
