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Condom price fight said to lead to killing

DETROIT, March 13 (UPI) -- A clerk at a Detroit gas station was charged Tuesday with murder in the fatal shooting of a customer after an argument over the price of condoms, police said.

Kassim Saleh, 23, of Dearborn, who was charged with first-degree murder in the Saturday shooting death of Michael Haynes, could face up to life in prison without parole if convicted, the Detroit Free Press reported.

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Investigators said Saleh was inside a bullet-proof booth about 1 a.m. Saturday when Haynes, 24, questioned the high price of a box of condoms, then pushed over shelves containing merchandise as he walked out.

Saleh then allegedly left the booth and fired at Haynes, who was hit in the shoulder, authorities said.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Haynes was unarmed and was with friends. Worthy said prosecutors have video evidence.

Members of Haynes's family told The Detroit News they rushed him to Sinai-Grace Hospital, where they say he was denied care for 20 minutes while he lay in a car bleeding.

Family spokesman Jonathan Kinloch told the newspaper Haynes's friends drove to the wrong entrance and security guards said, "You have to go somewhere else."

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When the friends pleaded with the guards, Kinloch said, the guards handcuffed them and "roughed them up while Michael was in the back seat begging for help for 20 minutes."

Sinai-Grace spokeswoman Tina Taylor said Haynes was seen immediately.

"An unidentified patient arrived shortly after 1 a.m. on Saturday morning," Taylor said. "The car was directed to take the patient to our trauma entrance; the trauma team was waiting at the door for the patient, who was seen immediately. The patient arrived with no pulse."

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