Mikey is an old high school friend of Eddie Murphy's character, Axel Foley. He's a small time crook who's been in and out of trouble with the law and recently had some affiliation with an organized crime outfit in California. Mikey shows up unannounced at Axel's apartment in Detroit, looking for a place to lay low after being on the lam with stolen bearer bonds he lifted from the crime syndicate. Axel is glad to see him again, but the reunion is cut tragically short when Mikey is found by the crime lord's enforcers and executed in the same building where Axel lives. This sets into motion the main plot of the story, wherein Axel travels to Los Angeles to track down his friend's killers and bring them to justice.