A Utah man has been charged with murder after he allegedly shot and killed a teenager during a fight over a bag of marijuana.
Michael Jameel Hines, 29, of Ogden was charged in 2nd District Court with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, both first-degree felonies, in the death of 18-year-old Kannon Beesley.
According to a probable cause statement, a 19-year-old man who was a “best friend” of the victim told police that on March 12, he and Hines went to Beesley’s home to “pay him back for a debt, but wouldn’t say what for.” He said Hines was with him, according to police, and that when Beesley showed them “a large bag of marijuana,” Hines “suddenly grabbed the bag” and the two began to fight. The friend told police that Hines “pulled out a handgun and shot Kannon in the chest” and then “fled from the home on foot.”
Beesley was taken to Davis Hospital, where he died a short time later from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Police later located and arrested Hines, who “initially denied all involvement and asked why he was arrested.” According to police, Hines later admitted he was at Beesley’s home and got into a fight with him. He said he and the 19-year old “planned on paying Kannon the money [the friend] owed him and then rob him of the marijuana and money that Kannon had.”
Hines told detectives it was the friend who shot Beesley, “but there is no evidence of that,” according to the police statement.
According to police, the 19-year-old friend “initially had detectives searching for the wrong people” and “purposely delayed the investigation and hindered our ability to investigate and locate … Hines.”
The 19-year-old is listed on court documents as a co-defendant in the case, but — as of Tuesday afternoon — he had not yet been charged with a crime.
