Tenisha Renee Yancey (born August 29, 1976) formerly served as a Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives, where she represented the 1st House District. The 1st House District previously comprised the cities of Harper Woods, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Shores and a portion of Detroit.
Yancey was elected in the 2017 Special Election called to fill a vacancy created when former Representative Brian Banks resigned from the seat after being charged with fraud for using false payroll records to obtain a loan from a credit union.
Personal life
Yancey is the niece of former United Auto Workers Vice President, Jimmy Settles.
Yancey worked for the Wayne County Executive's office and the Wayne County Land Bank prior to receiving her Juris Doctor degree in 2012. After passing the Michigan Bar in May 2014, Yancey joined the Wayne County Prosecutor's office; where she worked until her employment ended in April 2017.
Criminal history
Yancey's criminal history began in the mid-1990s, around the time she turned eighteen (18). Over an eighteen (18) month period, Yancey was charged with stalking, felonious use of a firearm, vandalism and trying to use her car to harm Latasha Steele and twice convicted of retail fraud, once in Kalamazoo and again in Battle Creek for shoplifting items from stores and trying to return them for cash. Yancey also spent a couple months in various county jails.
When Fox 2 Detroit interviewed Yancey about her criminal history, Yancey dismissed her legal troubles, attributing them to being caught up in a "love triangle." Yancey subsequently moved to southwestern Michigan, where court records in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek show she was twice convicted of stealing items from stores and trying to return the items for cash. Approximately six (6) months later, Yancey returned to Detroit, and was charged with stalking Steele and firing a gun into the home of Steele's mother.
Yancey denied firing a gun into the home of Steele's mother, stating "[t]hat's a lie, yes." Yancey also claimed, "I did not strike her car at all. That was just the finding of the court." Asked if the judge had ruled incorrectly, Yancey stated. "[h]e got it wrong based on the fact that I didn't strike her car." "Absolutely."
When Yancey's victim saw the Fox 2 news story about Yancey, she contacted Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter M.L. Elrick, to give her version of events. Steele stated "[w]hen I saw the FOX 2 interview that she did, I was livid . . . I was so upset that I felt the need to speak up." When asked about the incident in question, Steele stated "I saw her pull up, I saw her with my own eyes, me." "I saw her. She didn't ever park. You know how you come inside on the street. She stayed in the middle of the street in the car and fired from the car and just took off." Steele said that she didn't see anybody else in the car.
Steele also had a vastly different account of the second incident, approximately six (6) months later, which resulted in Yancey being charged with felony malicious destruction of property and assault with a dangerous weapon charges. "I and my cousin were inside the car and we were at a stop sign and at first she was riding on the side of us trying to get us to come out of the car," Steele said. ". . . that's when we came to the stop sign and she hit us so hard from the back, she pushed us out into traffic." Steele's cousin, Tanesha Allen, confirmed Steele's account of the incident. Records show that Yancey pleaded guilty to stalking in August 1995 and served two (2) years' probation. Later in 1997, Yancey was found guilty for failing to stop at the scene of a property damage accident by the same Wayne County court and sentenced to one (1) year of probation.
Yancey has also been a regular in 36th District Court for most of her adult life, mainly as a parking scofflaw — she currently owes $323 in unpaid fines.