Sterling man sentenced for 2020 barber shop murder

By: Eric Czarnik | Sterling Heights Sentry | Published June 16, 2023

STERLING HEIGHTS — A Sterling Heights man was sentenced June 7 for committing murder as well as a felony firearm crime at a Sterling Heights barber shop in 2020, according to the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.

In Macomb County Circuit Court, Judge Edward Servitto sentenced David Kanouna, 33, to 22 1/2 to 50 years of imprisonment for second-degree murder, as well as a two-year sentence for felony firearm, the Prosecutor’s Office said. Those sentences are consecutive.

Earlier this year, Kanouna pleaded guilty to those crimes. Second-degree murder can carry a penalty up to life imprisonment, while the other crime carries a mandatory two years, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

According to prosecutors, Kanouna fatally shot Sharaz Hussain June 13, 2020, at The Barber Co., located along Mound Road, near Fox Hill Drive. Records from the MiCOURT database reveal that Kanouna had originally been charged with first-degree premeditated murder.

Dawn Fraylick, the communications director from the Prosecutor’s Office, said Kanouna and Hussain “had a feud over money,” and Hussain sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Fraylick added that she believed that Kanouna had mental health issues of some type but did not know specifically what they were.   

In a statement, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said the case is “a somber reminder” about the importance of seeking justice.

“We cannot bring back the life that was lost, but we can honor the victim’s memory by ensuring that the consequences of such heinous acts are met with unyielding resolve,” he said.

Kanouna’s listed attorney, Arthur Garton, couldn’t be reached for comment by press time. Learn more about the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office by visiting pros ecutor.macombgov.org.