On a summer day in Flint, Michigan, tragedy struck 28-year-old Ali Mohammad Mc-Zick, a Black man who had recently relocated from Detroit. On June 2, 2014, Mc-Zick was at a bus stop near the corner of Welch Boulevard and Martin Luther King Avenue when he was caught in a spray of bullets. The gunfire that erupted that day not only claimed his life but also critically injured another man, Tyrell Gaylor. Mc-Zick was rushed to Hurley Medical Center, but his wounds proved fatal.
He was a father of five, a recent graduate of Finney High School, and had briefly attended Mott Community College. His family and friends remembered him as a loving and caring father, brother, and friend whose interests included spending time with his family, music, and traveling.
The investigation into the shooting quickly pointed to a single suspect: 22-year-old Daron Ramone Gaylor Jr. Police identified Gaylor as the gunman and a manhunt ensued. The story took another dark turn a month later when Tyrell Gaylor, the man who had survived the shooting that killed Mc-Zick, was fatally shot on July 5, 2014. Authorities immediately named Daron Gaylor Jr. as a person of interest in this second homicide as well, escalating the urgency of his capture. He was considered armed and extremely dangerous.
The search for Daron Gaylor Jr. came to a dramatic and violent end on July 9, 2014. Acting on a tip, law enforcement tracked him to a house on Sherman Avenue in Flint. A standoff that lasted for eleven hours began, with SWAT teams surrounding the residence. Attempts to have Gaylor surrender, including playing a message from his mother, were unsuccessful. The situation escalated when Gaylor fired at the officers, wounding one state trooper. In the evening, police used an excavator to tear into the house. Once inside, they discovered Gaylor's body in the attic; he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death brought an end to the criminal proceedings before they could begin, leaving no opportunity for a trial or conviction for the murder of Ali Mohammad Mc-Zick. Gaylor's girlfriend was subsequently arrested and charged with harboring a fugitive and lying to the police.
