A 19-year-old man was convicted of second-degree murder yesterday in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Prince Jr. in 2007 at the Metreon. The two were arguing over whether Prince was "clogging" the escalator, and the shooter, Christopher Canon of San Francisco, pulled out a gun and shot Prince four times.
An earlier trial ended in a hung jury, split over choosing first- or second-degree murder. Canon's defense attorney calls the verdict "massively wrong," having argued during the trial that Prince was the aggressor and Canon was simply defending himself. He also argued that Canon, who was 15 at the time of the crime, did not understand the consequences of his actions.
Prince's murder was actually the second shooting death that went down inside the Metreon complex in 2007 (the shooter in that case was acquitted due to police misconduct). And soon, as most of you know, the whole place will get a renovation and rebranding with a Target.