Family of Flint security guard killed at Family Dollar over mask mandate says justice 'served'

On the same day her husband's killers were sentenced to life in prison without parole, Latryna Sims declared in all capital letters on an online fundraising page: "JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED."

Sims' husband, Calvin Munerlyn, a 43-year-old father of nine from Genesee County, was working as a security guard at Family Dollar store in Flint in May of 2020 when he tried to enforce the state's mask mandate with a customer not wearing one. A fight broke out and Munerlyn was later shot to death by two men, both related to the unmasked customer, who returned to the store to confront the guard.

Larry Teague, wife Sharmel Teague, and Sharmel Teague’s son, Ramonyea Bishop, were sentenced by Genesee Circuit Court Judge Brian Pickell after a jury convicted them in November of first-degree murder.

Even at the sentencing, Sims said the defendants wouldn't accept responsibility for killing Munerlyn, known to loved ones as "Duper."

"I just couldn’t believe that at this point they still aren’t accepting accountability for their actions and acting like what they did was okay," said Sims in a post on a GoFundMe page for Munerlyn's family that has raised more than $500,000.

According to Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton, the shooting happened at a Family Dollar store across 5th Avenue from the University of Michigan-Flint's William S. White building. Munerlyn told Sharmel Teague's daughter that she must comply with Whitmer's shelter-in-place order regarding wearing masks in stores to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

A fight broke out and later, Larry Teague returned to the store with Sharmel Teague's son, Ramonyea Bishop, and shot Munerlyn in the head.

Munerlyn's death became national news, an example of the backlash to what some considered overly restrictive pandemic policies and those trying to enforce them.

Watching the testimony during last fall's trial, Sims, who documented the proceedings on the GoFundMe page, said she got sick watching a video prosecutors played that showed her husband put up his hands, trying to "de-escalate" the deadly confrontation.

"Now I can’t visualize anything but that video," wrote Sims. "My heart is so broken and all of these emotions has resurfaced with force. All I can do is cry."

The Associated Press contributed.