Murder charges likely in shooting over cold McDonald’s french fries
NEW YORK — The gunman charged with shooting a McDonald’s worker point-blank in a flap over cold french fries tried to cover up his crime, disposing of evidence that included the clothes he wore when pulling the trigger, prosecutors charged Thursday.
Defendant Michael Morgan, 20, was arraigned for both attempted murder in Monday’s shooting of the fast-food employee and a separate October 2020 murder that authorities said he confessed to after his arrest earlier this week.
Assistant District Attorney Luis Paternina said upgraded charges were likely against Morgan as the victim in Monday’s shooting was declared brain dead but remained on life support. Morgan, 20, was held without bail pending another court appearance this coming Monday.
Morgan confessed to the earlier killing after his arrest for the shooting of 23-year-old victim Matthew Webb, who landed in the line of fire after the accused shooter’s mom sparked the confrontation with her complaint about getting a cold order of fries.
Morgan showed up at the Bedford-Stuyvesant fast-food outlet after hearing his mother’s complaints during a FaceTime chat between the two, according to authorities.
Video surveillance showed Morgan punching Webb in the face, knocking the worker to the ground before pulling the weapon and pumping a bullet into the victim’s neck on the sidewalk outside the McDonald’s.
Parternina said Morgan’s girlfriend, 18-year-old Camellia Dunlap, admitted handing him the weapon in a videotaped interview after she was taken into custody. Dunlap was arrested alongside Morgan inside the accused shooter’s home.
“She was holding the gun for him,” Paternina said.
The 2020 slaying occurred just six blocks from the McDonald’s, with the prosecutor describing a scene where victim Kevin Holloman was not the intended target. The man was hanging out with his cousin on Oct. 21, 2020, when the shooting occurred.
The cousin and Morgan had clashed two days prior, and the 28-year-old Holloman was killed when the shooter came out of an apartment and opened fire, authorities said. The cousin escaped injury, but Holloman was struck by three bullets outside 771 Herkimer St.