Family Dollar guard killed over face mask honored as parent of the year

Residents in Flint, Michigan are reeling over the death of a Family Dollar security guard who was shot after a verbal confrontation with a customer who refused to wear a face mask inside the store.

Calvin Munerlyn, 43, who died on Friday, is being praised by community members who remember him for all the ways he gave back to others. At the Madison Academy, where Munerlyn was honored as “Parent of the Year” just days before the shooting, his death is especially felt.

READ MORE: Security guard fatally shot after telling customer to wear face mask

“We have four of their children here, two of their other children graduated from Madison Academy, so the Munerlyns are our family,” Madison Academy Principal Christel Drew told WJRT.

Drew said Munlerlyn, who was also known throughout the school as “Duper,” often served the school and its students however he could.

“When we need something, we are going to call ‘Duper.’ When we need somebody to do security at graduation, we need somebody to come up fix his famous oodles, so he would come up during lunch and fix those. Fundraisers, whatever it is that we need, Mr. Munerlyn was there for the kids,”  she said.

“His spirit was huge, he was absolutely amazing.”

Now the school community is doing their part to be there for Munerlyn’s grieving family.

“Somebody has been with the family every day … today, our final senior serenade, will be at the Munerlyn home, in which our entire staff, our elementary staff our New Standard family, all of us are going to do a drive-by to tell the Munerlyn family that we are here for them,” Drew said.

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Genesee County officials are still in search of two suspects involved in Munerlyn’s death. Ramonyea Bishop, 23, and Larry Teague, 44, remain at large.

Teague’s wife and Bishop’s mother, Sharmel Teague, has already been charged and arraigned for first-degree murder.

Munerlyn had asked Sharmel Teague to put on a mask as she entered the Family Dollar, which is mandatory under state guidelines to protect against the novel coronavirus.

Surveillance video reveals Teague immediately left after the altercation in an SUV. Twenty minutes later, the SUV returned. Larry Teague and Bishop then entered the store and Teague yelled at Munerlyn for “disrespecting” his wife. Bishop is believed to be the one who shot him.

Both men also face first-degree murder charges.

“This is senseless. Over a mask. Over a mask?” Munerlyn’s cousin, Tina James, told WJRT. “This is not the way to do things right now. We need to come together.”

Despite Munerlyn’s tragic death, Principal Drew says his spirit will live on at the Madison Academy for years to come.

“We are, of course, going to honor him with that. But moving forward, we are going to rename that award the ‘Super Duper’ parent award for Madison Academy. And so every year, we will keep it going as an honor to his name,” Drew said.