Slain Family Dollar security guard mourned at candlelight vigil
Flint MI May 5 2020
Bernadett Munerlyn’s son Calvin had endless energy as a child.
“He always liked to stay on the go all the time, so I called him Duper, super duper,” she said with a laugh during a candlelight vigil Sunday night that drew roughly 150 people.
The only son of Bernadett Munerlyn, Calvin “Duper” James Munerlyn, was shot and killed Friday, May 1 at the Family Dollar off East Fifth Avenue just north of downtown Flint. He was 43 years old.
Police investigate shooting at Family Dollar in Flint
Calvin Munerlyn had worked as a security guard at the store for a little over a year and in the profession for three decades in the city, said Latryna Sims-Munerlyn, Calvin’s wife.
One of the couple’s sons also worked at the store. He wasn’t at work that day but had received a phone call from a fellow employee.
“My son called me and he said, ‘Mama, you got to get to the store,’ and my heart just dropped,” she said. “I said, ‘Why son?’ He said, ‘Mama, just go to the store.’”
When she arrived at the business, Sims-Munerlyn spotted yellow police tape.
“I just instantly thought my baby was gone,” she said as tears welled up at the vigil.
Sims-Munerlyn was told the shooting was the result of an argument over a customer not wearing a mask.
As part of their ongoing investigation Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser said Sunday evening that law enforcement officials are looking into the possibility.
Sims-Munerlyn had met her husband 20 years earlier, with the pair hanging out when they saw each other at clubs in the city.
“One night he just came up to me and kissed me and took me home,” she recalled. “We’ve been together ever since.”
The couple has six children together. They were Munerlyn’s whole world, according to his wife.
“He was with my kids every day. He helped them with everything,” she said. “He taught them everything. He loved them babies with everything in him.”
Outside of the family home, Calvin Munerlyn also had a heart for others.
“That man was a legend out here, from troubled teenagers that he helped to taking care of his babies, his wife, his home,” said Sims-Munerlyn. “That man was just lovable.”
Bernadett Munerlyn called her son “a beautiful person and he loved his family and his mama so much and his wife.”
Security guard dies after shooting at Family Dollar in Flint
“All of us together, one big family we just did everything together and he loved taking his kids out, having fun, basketball, bike rides, exercising, jogging,” she said. “He just was a beautiful father and it’s devastating that he’s gone.”
For those out there who may know the person responsible for his shooting death, Bernadett Munerlyn had a few words to share.
“I just want to see justice done for my baby. They didn’t have to take my baby and it wasn’t that serious. All you people just have to do is listen to the law, listen to the governor,” she exclaimed. “Just stay home. If you don’t have to come out, then you wouldn’t need a mask unless you’re out getting groceries or necessities. All my baby was doing was his job working and doing his job.”
“I need them to know this is my heart, my world and they can’t stop his legacy out here. They can’t,” she said. “He’s going to always live through me and his babies. Always.”
Anyone with information about the fatal shooting may contact the Flint Police Department at 810-237-6800 or report a tip anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Flint & Genesee County at 1-800-422-5245, use the P3TIPS mobile app, or visit CrimeStoppersofFlint.com.
Videos, photos, and audio can be submitted via the Crime Stoppers app or website.
MLive.com
