Michigan gas station clerk charged with first-degree murder after customer spat over beef jerky

Detroit — A gas station clerk was arraigned Thursday in connection with the fatal shooting of Detroit man after a dispute over beef jerky Monday in southwest Detroit, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

Moad Mohamed Al-Gaham, 40, of Detroit was arraigned in the city’s 36th District Court on charges of first-degree premeditated murder and felony firearm, Prosecutor Kym Worthy said during a press conference Thursday. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

The incident took place just after 3 a.m. Monday in the 4410 block of Vernor Highway near Clark Avenue. Al-Gaham allegedly shot unarmed Anthony McNary, 25, of Detroit after McNary took a beef jerky product and placed it in his pocket without paying, the prosecutor said, which resulted in a “heated exchange of words.”

Al-Gaham then, officials allege, rifled through McNary’s pockets, returning the item to the shelf, then kicked McNary out of the store after denying McNary’s attempt to pay for the item and locked the doors, preventing McNary from re-entering.

Worthy said Al-Gaham shot the victim through the door.

“In a short period of time after that, we further allege that (Al-Gaham) did the following: he produced a handgun, he aimed it, he held it in the direct line of (McNary’s) forehead and then fatally shot him from inside the gas station,” Worthy said. “Mr. Al-Gaham was not — in any way — in any immediate danger.”

McNary was transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead, officials said.

It’s the second time in recent weeks that police officials have closed down a gas station where a homicide occurred because it had been operating without a license, Detroit Police Chief James White said during a briefing outside the shuttered business on Monday.

“Here we are less than one month after the locked door incident at a Detroit gas station on West McNichols. This simply cannot continue to happen,” Worthy said in a news release. “In this case the defendant allegedly had a weapon aimed at Mr. McNary’s face while he was in a place of safety on the other side of a locked glass door and pulled the trigger. He had time to premeditate his actions and was not in any immediate danger.”

During the press conference, Worthy said the store operating without a license was an issue beyond her lane, and the matter was up to the city and state agencies like LARA, the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

The gun used in the shooting, the chief said, was unlicensed, and that police would be investigating how it was acquired and whether it was used in other crimes.

Employees at the station declined to comment Monday. After they were told to go home, Investigator John Doneghy from the city’s Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department affixed a sticker to the station’s front window informing customers that the business had been closed because it had been operating without a license.

The prosecutor said her office is working on how to advise gas station owners on matters with similar circumstances, but would not detail the approach.

“I would never condone theft of any kind, but again, there has to be some guidelines, I think, going forward,” Worthy said.

A probable cause conference is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. June 22, and the preliminary examination is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. June 29.

jaimery@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @wordsbyjakkar