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Jury Deliberates In Case Of Murdered Moon Lite Party Store Owner

MACOMB COUNTY (CBS DETROIT) - The fate of three men accused in the March 2014 murder of a Macomb County party store owner now rests with a jury.

Basim Sulaka, a 51-year-old father of two who survived cancer, was killed when three masked men with guns broke into the Moon Lite Party Store on Harper Avenue, just north of 14 Mile Road in Clinton Township reports WWJ's Jon Hewett.

clinton township party store owner murdered
Basim Sulaka - the party store owner (R), know by customers as "Sweet Basil" (Credit: Kathryn Larson/WWJ Newsradio 950)

The three men charged in the case; Darius Gaskin, 25, of Detroit, the alleged gunman, Joemar Robinson, 26, and Kenneth Hill, 27, both of Clinton Township admit they planned to rob the store but all claim they did not intend to kill the owner of the party store. The three men are charged with first degree felony murder and face a possible sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Shortly after the murder dozens of people gathered outside the Moon Lite Party Store to mourn the loss of the man known as "Sweet Basil," described as a loving father of two who would have given anyone in need the shirt off his back.

Christine Derrey, who lives in the neighborhood, laid fresh flowers in front of the store to remember a man who was always smiling.

"I am just very sad and disgusted that people would actually come in here and shoot first before telling him what they wanted because he literally would have just given it to them," she said. "They didn't have to kill him. They came in here to murder him, I mean, that's just how it appears because if anybody knows Basil, he would have just given it to you. He wasn't a fighter, I mean, he just survived cancer."

A fourth defendant in the case, 26-year-old Clinton Grayson of Warren,  was convicted in April and sentenced to life without parole.

While none of the defendants took the witness stand in the week-long trial, video-recorded police statements from all three were entered in as evidence.

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