DEARBORN — Dearborn Police and the Wayne County Medical Examiner have ruled that the recent death of Shady Bazzi was a suicide. Family members of Bazzi, who was found dead at his home here Feb. 7 of a gunshot wound to the right temple of his head, are refuting the findings, and say he accidentally shot himself. 

Before the incident, Bazzi told his mother Mariana that he was cleaning his gun. A few moments later, Mariana walked into her bedroom located in the northeast part of the home.  She then heard a loud gunshot coming from the living room. She ran back to the living room and discovered Bazzi hunched over the couch. 

A listed Glock model .22 handgun was found on the floor under Bazzi’s right leg, and an empty bullet casing was nearby.  Bazzi’s sister, Sandy, says two weeks before the incident, her brother’s friend was showing him how to clean his gun, and a bullet was stuck in its chamber.  She says Bazzi was trying to remove the bullet before accidentally shooting himself, and that explains why the loaded magazine was found on the table to the left of Bazzi’s body. 

“The gun had a defect and accidently discharged. They even said it looked like an accident, but they couldn’t call it one. The bullet got stuck in the gun chamber, and he was messing with it,” Sandy said, adding she was told one reason the death was labeled a suicide is because there were no witnesses to the shooting. 

Bazzi.

It is common for bullets to get stuck in a gun’s chamber. Jammed bullets can be caused by defective ammunition, and they shouldn’t become an issue when they are removed properly. Problems can occur when an improper technique is used to remove a bullet. 

According to a police report, Bazzi’s mother said he was suffering from depression and taking anti-depressants. His mother says he was acting normal a few days before and had recently went to see a doctor at the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services. Police say no alcohol or narcotics were found in his system. His mother also said he had threatened suicide in the past, but not recently. Bazzi died on his mother’s birthday, and Sandy says he had made plans to take her out the same day. 

In January, Dearborn Police also determined that the death of 19-year-old Assil Srour Makki was a suicide. Makki was found dead in her Dearborn home.  She was married with a son. 

Bazzi had a bright future ahead of him. He attended the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and according to his sister, had recently been accepted to Arizona State University, where he planned on attending medical school. “You don’t make all these plans and look forward to them if you’re going to commit suicide,” Sandy said. Bazzi’s stepmother, Zainab Murray, says he was also accepted into Harvard University. 

Raouf Bazzi says his son’s GPA was always higher than a 4.0, and he was among the top 15 graduates in his class. At one point he planned on becoming a lawyer, even taking the LSAT exam. “They told me early on that my son was a gifted genius. I know my son, he would never kill himself,” he said.  

Bazzi’s mother is currently staying with relatives in another state while trying to cope with the tragedy. “He was a great guy, and definitely had an awesome personality,” said Dounya Zeineddine, a neighbor of Bazzi. Murray, who has been Bazzi’s stepmother of almost four years, lost one of her own children years ago and says Bazzi’s death hurts her just as much. “I loved him like my own.” 

“He was a very nice young man full of warmness, and a very respected person. He treated me so well.  There was something special about him. He had a way of really getting in your heart. This kid would never hurt himself, or his father or mom or anybody,” Murray said.  Sandy says she was very close to her brother, and that the two were best friends. “He was the best brother. He would do anything for me,” she said.