Detroit gas station clerk who locked door before shooting to stand trial for manslaughter

Detroit — The involuntary manslaughter case against a gas station clerk who locked the door to prevent an irate customer from leaving with $3.80 worth of merchandise after his card was declined who ultimately shot three people and killed one is strong enough to stand trial, a Detroit judge ruled Tuesday.

Detroit 36th District Court Judge Kenneth King said the question of whether Al-Hassan Aiyash's actions were grossly negligent when he locked the door and escalated the situation to the point where Samuel McCray allegedly pulled out a gun and shot everyone in the gas station except Aiyash would be best left up to a jury to decide.

"A lot of the intensity was attributable to the defendant and how he handled the situation, how he continued to pour gasoline on the fire," King said. "The question I have is, is there gross negligence? Is heightening the situation, amping the shooter up and locking the doors gross negligence? If not for the fact that he locked the door, none of this would've happened. ... That is at least a question of fact to be determined by trial."

McCray allegedly killed customer Gregory Kelly and shot Anthony Bowden and David Langston at about 3 a.m. May 6 at a Mobil gas station in the 12800 block of West McNichols in Detroit after Aiyash locked the gas station door to prevent McCray from shoplifting, according to testimony at Aiyash's Tuesday preliminary exam.

Aiyash's case will now go to Wayne County Circuit Court to stand trial.

McCray was also set to have a preliminary examination Tuesday morning, but it was postponed so the court could take time to see if McCray is mentally competent to stand trial.

Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Elsey used arguments from case law set by the Michigan Court of Appeals' decision in the James and Jennifer Crumbley involuntary manslaughter case, where Oakland County prosecutors are trying to hold the Crumbleys responsible for the actions of their son, who killed four people and injured seven others at Oxford High School in November 2021.

To bind Aiyash's case over to Wayne County Circuit Court, King had to find there was probable cause that it was "reasonably foreseeable" that some type of harm would occur when Aiyash locked the door and escalated the situation.

Elsey said in this case, it was "highly foreseeable that exactly what happened, would happen, that life would've been lost."

"When he's physically locking the door, he's doing it at a moment where he's unnecessarily escalating the situation with an individual who has already threatened violence against him," Elsey said. "It's like a fire erupted in the store and the reaction was not only to lock the customers in the store but to essentially pour gasoline on the fire."

There is no point in the surveillance video from the gas station where it is clearly audible that McCray threatens to shoot everyone in the store if Aiyash did not unlock the door, Elsey said, but at least one witness told police that was said.

Aiyash's attorney, Ben Gonek, argued there was no evidence to prove that Kelly's death was a "natural or necessary result of" Aiyash's actions.

At one point during the altercation, McCray threw a bottle of juice at the security window Aiyash was standing behind and it burst and splashed Kelly, according to the video and testimony at the preliminary exam. Kelly became angry and confronted McCray, which is when Gonek said tensions really began to escalate.

"There's no doubt the whole notion of locking anyone in the store is detestable, it shouldn't have happened," Gonek said. "(But) there's no showing that even unlocking the door based on what happened between Mr. McCray and Mr. Kelly that Mr. McCray wouldn't have shot him even if door was unlocked."

There's nothing to indicate Aiyash knew McCray had a gun or knew that McCray would start shooting, Gonek said.

Aiyash unlocked the door once things escalated further — about 15 seconds prior to the shooting, prosecutors previously said — and told the customers to "get the (expletive) on." But nothing indicated if anyone heard him or understood he meant the door was now unlocked, Elsey said.

One of the customers in the store, Anthony Bowden, filed a lawsuit against the owner of the gas station and the business itself shortly after the shooting.

Ali Dagher, the attorney for the Mobil gas station, said in May the gas station's owner is devastated by the shooting.

"The owner reached out to the family of the victims and provided support to try to heal the great pain that has been inflicted on the families by a cold-blooded killer who took the life of Mr. Kelly and injured two other patrons," Dagher said in an email. The owner paid for Kelly's funeral expenses, Dagher said.

Detroit's Buildings, Safety, Engineering, and Environmental Department closed the gas station because the city said it was unlicensed.

kberg@detroitnews.com