WXYZ WEB TEAM & ASSOCIATED PRESS — A gas station clerk who's accused of locking a door during a dispute over a small purchase before a fatal shooting was arraigned on an involuntary manslaughter charge Friday.
The lawyer for 22-year-old Al-Hassan Aiyash entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy filed the charge against Aiyash, of Hamtramck, in connection with the fatal May 6 shooting of Gregory Kelly, 37, of Detroit, who also was inside the gas station.
Kelly and two other men inside the gas station repeatedly pleaded with Aiyash to unlock the door and let them out, Worthy said.
Aiyash pushed a security button to unlock the door, but didn’t tell the men seconds before the shooting began, Worthy said.
“The allegations of the defendant locking the door of the store and not heeding the pleas of the men to be released led to tragic consequences in this case,” Worthy said in a news release.
Aiyash was arrested Thursday by the Detroit Police Department. During his arraignment, the judge gave Aiyash a $200,000 cash bond with a GPS tether and home confinement. A bond redetermination hearing is set for May 23. The probable cause conference is scheduled for June 2 and the preliminary examination is scheduled for June 9.
The man who allegedly shot Kelly, 27-year-old Samuel Anthony McCray, has been charged with first-degree murder, two counts of assault with intent to murder, and three counts of felony firearm and felon in possession of a firearm.
The shooting occurred after 3 a.m. on May 6. McCray tried to leave the gas station with items worth less than $4 after an electronic purchase was rejected, but then Aiyash locked the door, the prosecutor’s office has said.
McCray threatened to shoot everyone inside the gas station unless the door was unlocked, according to witness David Langston.
Langston, 37, and a 60-year-old man were wounded.
