Promising Basketball Player Killed In Dispute Over Gold Necklace
CHICAGO (CBS) – A former Chicago high school basketball star on his way to a Division 1 school was fatally shot Thursday when he tried to intervene during a dispute over a gold necklace.
Michael Haynes, 22, had been set to begin attending Iona College in just a few days.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot talked with his devastated family.
"I still can't believe it," the victim's brother, Marcus Hayes, says. "I just want my brother back."
Among the high schools he attended, Michael Haynes was a standout at Corliss High School.
"His freshman year, he averaged 20 points, ten rebounds," coach Steve Dockery said. "As soon as he stepped into the door, he was a starter."
Family members say the 6-foot-6-inch star player tried to break up a fight Thursday afternoon in his Morgan Park neighborhood. They say his friend and another man were arguing about a gold necklace.
"When he broke it up, the guy that wasn't his friend started shooting at the crowd," Kandice Blouin, a cousin of the victim, said. "I guess he had the gun on him. It didn't take him any time to start shooting."
Michael Haynes was shot multiple times and died.
He was heading to Iona College next week, where he would continue pursuing his passion. Haynes was part of basketball star Antwan Walker's summer basketball program. Walker's brother, Tobias, coached Haynes since the seventh grade.
"Even as a coach it was just fun watching him, getting the opportunity just to see him play, just to have the opportunity to coach him was just amazing," Walker said.
