Eminem home invasion suspect also stalked one of rapper's former homes, prosecutors say

Macomb County prosecutors won a victory in court Wednesday, convincing a judge to allow evidence that Eminem's accused home invader had tried to stalk the rapper months earlier.

They cited an early morning incident on June 1, 2019, in which defendant Matthew David Hughes was discovered at a Rochester Hills property previously owned by the hip-hop star born Marshall Mathers. After ringing the doorbell, Hughes reportedly told the homeowner he was looking for Eminem.

Hughes was later found asleep in a guest house on the Rochester Hills property.

Eminem sold the Rochester Hills house in 2017 after buying it for $4.8 million in 2003. He spent little time there even while he owned it.

Police said Hughes had also been spotted earlier that night lurking outside another nearby home. News of the 2019 incidents was originally reported last year by TMZ.

Matthew David Hughes, accused of home invasion at Eminem's Clinton Township house, appears by video during a hearing in Macomb County Circuit Court on April 14, 2021.

Hughes, 27, was arrested last April at Eminem's home in a gated Clinton Township community, as much of Michigan sat under lockdown during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is accused of breaking into the house and confronting the sleeping rapper, saying he was there to kill him.

Hughes, documented in court records as homeless, has been held since at Macomb County Jail. His trial, originally scheduled to start next week, has been pushed to May 21 because of COVID-19 limitations at the courthouse.

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Hughes did not speak during the Wednesday Zoom hearing held by Macomb County Circuit Judge Edward Servitto.

His attorney, Richard Glanda, objected to admitting the 2019 incident as evidence, saying it would be "irrelevant that Mr. Hughes went to other locations."

But Servitto ultimately agreed with prosecutors, who said Hughes' alleged behavior at the Rochester Hills house spoke to his intent and state of mind.

Hughes is also facing charges of assaulting a Macomb County Jail deputy in September.

Matthew David Hughes, pictured left in a mugshot provided by the Macomb County Sheriff Office, is charged with breaking into the home of rapper Eminem, seen here in 2015.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Eminem break-in suspect tried stalking rapper before, prosecutors say