A week after the tragic slaying of basketball player Michael Haynes, a man has been arrested for his murder. Meanwhile, more troubling information has surfaced about the night that claimed his life.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, CBS Chicago and a handful of other sources, Cinque Lee was arrested on Tuesday morning in connection with Haynes' death. The 20-year-old was specifically pointed out as the gunman in the shooting by witnesses before he was arrested. Disturbingly, CBS Chicago has described Lee as a longtime friend of Haynes, whom he is now charged with killing.
According to the Tribune, Lee shot Haynes while trying to break up a fight about a necklace. The Iona basketball recruit, who was less than a week away from his expected arrival for the start of school and basketball workouts in New York when he was killed, reportedly ran in to a skirmish and shoved Lee in the melee, with the man charged in the murder responding by allegedly pulling out a gun and shooting Haynes on the spot.
Lee is being held in a Cook County facility, and a preliminary hearing on Thursday refused his bail rights, meaning that he will continue to be held in jail.
While Lee's arrest may bring some reassurance to the Haynes family, other charges levied on Tuesday could cause them even more heartache and worry. Haynes' younger brother, Brian Haynes, was reportedly arrested shortly after his brother's murder and held on charges of threatening to shoot four unnamed individuals.
According to police, it is believed that the younger Haynes' actions were tied to his brother's death. Regardless, 21-year-old Brian Haynes kicked in the door of a house approximately a block away from where he brother was gunned down and threatened to shoot four residents inside while brandishing a gun. It has yet to be determined whether any of the people who were threatened by the younger Haynes were of any connection to Lee or others in the fight that preceded Michael Haynes' death.
No matter the outcome of both subsequent cases, the charges now in can at least provide some small sense of closure to those closest to an incident which could haunt both the Chicago high school basketball scene and Iona for some time to come.
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