Men to Face Trial in Murder of East Dearborn Businessman

Two Detroit men will face trial on felony murder and robbery charges after 19th District Court Judge Richard Wygonik ruled that prosecutors presented enough compelling evidence to bind the men over for trial.

, will appear for formal arraignment at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit in the , 60, who owned the on Schafer Road.

Wells and Matthews are both facing felony murder charges and three counts of felony armed robbery; Wells is also charged with an additional count of felony possession of a firearm, which is punishable by up to two years behind bars.

The men showed little emotion as Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Cory Newman outlined the charges against them. If convicted of the murder charges, the men face mandatory life in prison, without the possibility of parole.

March 15 Began Like Any Other Day                                                    

For the Shins, who were married in 1975 and owned the Sunrise Beauty Supply for the past seven years, March 15 began like any other day: Jay Shin left their home to prepare the store to open in the morning, and Margaret agreed to meet him at the store after she handled some banking.

But when Margaret Shin arrived at her place of business around 11 am, police officers had converged on the shopping center.

“I could not go into the store because there were police officers all around, and it was surrounded by yellow tape,” she testified.

Margaret Shin was later told by authorities that her husband had been shot and did not survive the attack.

During the hearing, two women testified that they were forced at gunpoint inside the store by a man wearing a green sweatshirt with yellow letters. One of the women said she purposely did not look at his face, but the other was able to identify the man in the green shirt as Wells to police. Both women were robbed of money and their cell phones.

At least one of the women said they heard gunshots and both of the women said they allegedly saw Wells placing clothing on the floor to cover up Jay Shin’s body–some of which was found by detectives at the scene, said Sgt. Mike Sabo of the Dearborn Police.

An autopsy conducted by Dr. Lokman Sung of the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office indicated that Jay Shin died as a result of a single gunshot wound that entered the right side of his temple, according to a report submitted into evidence by Newman.

Wells and Matthews were arrested on March 18, after surveillance camera footage helped identify them.

In two subsequent interviews with Sabo, Matthews said Wells told him that he wanted to commit a crime, that he knew Wells possessed a gun, and that he was told by Wells that he needed to “get his girl some hair.” Expensive extensions were among the $10,000 in missing merchandise at the store, according to Margaret Shin.

In statements to police, Matthews said he was in the car for much of the time that Wells was in the beauty supply shop, but added that he told Wells they needed to leave after Jay Shin was shot. Matthews said Wells replied, “Everybody dies sometime.”

Defense Opposes Motion

Attorneys for Wells and Matthews opposed the prosecutor’s motion to bind the pair over for trial.

Adil Haradhvala, the attorney for Wells, said no one that testified in court could say they saw Wells shoot Jay Shin, and at least one of the women admitted under oath that she never saw Wells’ face.

“No one saw Mr. Wells shooting anyone,” he said.

Matthews’ attorney, Gabi Silver, said the testimony indicated Wells perpetrated the crimes on his own.

“It’s interesting that (Newman) is asking me to argue when he has the burden of proof,” she said. “Nothing indicates that Mr. Matthews knew a crime would be committed or agreed to participate in a crime.”

Wygonik disagreed, indicating that one of the two women forced into the back of the store at gunpoint identified Wells and that Matthews made statements to officers that Matthews knew Wells wanted to commit a crime.

“I think there’s more than enough evidence to meet the probable cause standards,” he said.

Wells and Matthews–who were returned to the Wayne County Jail to await their next hearing–will appear in front of a Wayne County judge on May 20.