SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 46-year-old man has been charged with murder in connection with a double homicide at a Shelby Township auto dealership on Friday, with the victims' families saying the suspect was upset over rust he found on a Hummer he purchased two months ago.
Watch Randy Wimbley's video report:
Terrance Jermaine Sandles was arraigned on 15 counts of murder, weapons, robbery, and drug charges in the shooting deaths at Star Auto Sales.
RAW VIDEO: Suspect arraigned in double murder at Shelby Township business
The victims were 40-year-old Marvan Batoo, owner of Star Auto Sales, and 48-year-old Ghaith Baban, a customer and innocent bystander.
According to Batoo's family, Sandles showed up in late October demanding a refund for the Hummer and threatened to kill the owner.
"What would I say to this guy? I hope he rots. Rots in jail," Sameer Najeeb said.
Sameer Najeeb, Baban's younger brother, said he was waiting in a Toyota Prius outside when his brother was gunned down while paying off a car inside the auto shop's sales office.
"It's just too much, just somebody you were with all your life, and now he's just like randomly picked and gone," Najeeb said. "It's just the fact that I was like 15 feet away from him, oblivious to the surroundings and everything."
Police say Sandles fled the scene after the shooting. Officers arrested him early Saturday morning at a hotel near Detroit Metro Airport, recovering evidence they say is connected to the crime in his hotel room.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Police searching for suspect after double fatal shooting at Shelby Township auto sales shop
"I'm not sure how much worth were the cars, but I'm sure they are both worth a lot more than that," Najeeb said.
Extended interview: Family of victim in Shelby Township shooting speaks out
Najeeb started a fundraiser to help support his brother's widow and two children, with friends, family, and strangers pitching in to help a family left fatherless.
"He was just a straightforward, so innocent, such a good father, good husband," Najeeb said.
Najeeb said his family came to America from Iraq, and Baban desperately wanted to escape the violence there.
"He ran away from something he predicted basically. He said I don't want a stray bullet landing on my head and it seems like, from what I learned, he was shot from the back in his head," Najeeb said.
Sandles is being held without bond in the Macomb County Jail. He is expected to be in court for a preliminary exam on December 1st.
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