Jurors hear accused murderer tell detectives: ‘It was a bad decision’
An Oak Park man on trial this week in Oakland County for a fatal shooting in 2020 told police investigators he fired a handgun out his apartment window — but didn’t intend for anyone to get hit.
Rather, he told detectives, the shooting was to scare away a few people from the porch of his apartment building following an altercation over noise that had turned physical moments earlier.
As the trial of Anthony McClain continued Thursday in Oakland County Circuit Court, jurors were presented with an audio recording and written transcript of an interview he had with Oak Park police detectives soon after the shooting outside an apartment complex near Greenfield and 9 Mile roads that took the life of Shakyra Hinton, 25.
Hinton bled to death on a hospital operating room table on April 6, 2020, a few hours after she was hit by three bullets fired from a 9mm handgun later recovered from McClain’s apartment. McClain’s attorney Mark Sakawa claims it’s a case of self-defense based on McClain fearing for his life and his family members’ lives, believing that some of the people involved in the earlier altercation were drunk, angry and possibly armed as they tried to get into his apartment building in retaliation.
Assistant prosecutor Rob Novy maintains it’s a case of murder: McClain had no reasonable safety concern — and shot Hinton when she was about 40 feet from his secondstory apartment window, not while she was on the building’s porch trying to get inside. According to witness testimony Tuesday, a friend of Hinton had accompanied her back to the area of the altercation — believing it was over — so they could retrieve personal belongings left behind when gunfire rang out.
During the police interview, prior to learning Hinton had died, McClain called the incident “crazy, misunderstood sh*t,” claiming he was trying to protect his wife and family — and himself.
“I was scared, too…I didn’t know these people,” he told detectives, adding that he heard them “say something about guns.”
“I was just trying to scare people to get them away from my door,” McClain said.
When detectives told him someone had been hit by the gunfire and was undergoing surgery, McClain said he “didn’t want nothing like that to happen.”
One of the detectives then asked: “What did you think was going to happen (when you fired a gun toward people)?”
In response, McClain said: “That wasn’t my intent. I just wanted them to get the f*** out. I’m sorry, I’m very sorry. I’m very sorry about that…it was a bad decision but I didn’t want anybody to get shot.”
McClain was taken into custody nearly two hours after the shooting when he was found hiding in the apartment building’s basement. He had a box of ammunition with him.
During the interview, he told detectives he had hidden because he felt threatened by the people from the altercation — and was also hiding from police.
“I guess I was scared,” he said. “I never been through nothing like this…I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have got the gun. I should’ve talked it out…my ego got the best of me.”
When detectives told McClain of Hinton’s death, he again repeated his claim that actually shooting someone wasn’t his plan.“I swear I never intended for that to happen,” he said, then asked to call his wife, adding. “I’m sorry man. Oh lord.”
Testimony is expected to wrap up Friday. Presiding over the trial is Oakland County Circuit Judge David Cohen.