Family Files $100M Lawsuit After Deadly Detroit Gas Station Shooting

DETROIT — The family of a man who was shot to death outside a Detroit gas station in June during a dispute over a piece of beef jerky filed a $100 million lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Fieger Law announced Monday.

Prosecutors said Anthony McNary, 25, was shot to death by a gas station clerk outside a Detroit Mobil gas station in the early morning hours on June 5.

The gas station clerk, Moad Mohamed Al-Gaham, 40, of Detroit, was charged with first-degree murder and a felony firearm violation. He was placed in jail, officials said.

Prosecutors said Al-Gaham was working as a clerk at a gas station in the 4410 block of Vernor Highway on Monday at 3:05 a.m. when 25-year-old Anthony McNary, of Detroit, walked inside.

Al-Gaham and McNary began arguing inside the gas station when McNary took a beef jerky product and put it in his pocket, prosecutors said.

Al-Gaham then rifled through Mr. McNary’s pockets, took the item, and placed it back on the shelf, prosecutors said.

Shortly later, McNary tried to pay for the beef jerky item, but Al-Gaham refused to accept the money and made McNary leave the store, prosecutors said.

Al-Gaham then manually locked the gas station's front doors and would not allow McNary back into the store, prosecutors said.

Al-Gaham then pulled out a handgun and fired a shot through the doors at McNary, fatally striking him in the forehead, prosecutors said. Officials said McNary was not armed with a weapon.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Al-Gaham was in a place of safety behind a locked glass door as he pulled the trigger, adding "he had time to premeditate his actions and was not in any immediate danger."

The lawsuit accuses the gas station of corporate negligence, reckless conduct of store clerk Al-Gaham, as well as negligent hiring, training, supervising and retention of the clerk. It also added management provided a loaded handgun for its staff to use or they allowed their staff to bring a loaded gun into the store.

"This is the second incident this year that an innocent person has been killed at an ExxonMobil gas station at the hands of one of its employees," Fieger Law Managing Partner James Harrington said. "Both instances show gross corporate negligence and lack of employee training. The violence, carelessness and irresponsibility by ExxonMobil must end."

The shooting happened less than a month after a different Detroit Mobil gas station clerk was charged in connection to a deadly triple shooting. Prosecutors said the clerk refused to allow an angry customer, who eventually shot three people inside the store, to leave the store and had locked the doors.