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Detroit Man Killed Over High Price of Condoms

By Andrew Chow, Esq. on March 13, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A Detroit gas station cashier is behind bars after he allegedly shot a customer in a dispute over a box of condoms. The customer -- Michael Haynes II, 24 -- died at a hospital, The Huffington Post reports.

Haynes bought a box of condoms about 12:45 a.m. Saturday at a BP station on Detroit's west side, the Detroit Free Press reports. When Haynes complained about the high price of the condoms and asked for a refund, the cashier refused.

A heated argument ensued, and Haynes started knocking items from the store's shelves, police said. The cashier pulled out a gun and shot Haynes in the shoulder, Detroit's WWJ-TV reports.

The cashier "didn't know he shot him because the man was walking out," the gas station's assistant manager told the Free Press. "He wasn't attempting to shoot at him. He was just trying to scare him."

A friend who accompanied Michael Haynes II to the gas station drove him to a hospital, where he died from the gunshot wound. The cashier's name has not been released.

The cashier may ultimately be charged with Haynes' killing in the gas station condom shooting. While the incident may not rise to the level of premeditation needed for a murder charge, the clerk may instead be charged with voluntary manslaughter -- a killing in the "heat of passion" of an emotional or mental disturbance.

The cashier may also try to claim self-defense. But the cashier would have to prove his use of force was both necessary and reasonable under the circumstances. A jury may not agree, since Haynes was apparently unarmed and was only trashing the store -- not threatening physical violence against the cashier.

The fact that Haynes was walking out of the store when he was shot may also defeat a self-defense claim.

The BP station's assistant manager lamented Michael Haynes II's death in the gas station shooting over condoms. "It's not worth it, not even for a trillion dollars, not for somebody's life," the assistant manager told the Free Press.

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