Man gets 8-15 years in fatal sucker punch on camera at St. Clair Shores bar

St. Clair Shores, Mich. (FOX 2) - A judge has sentenced a man to between 8 and 15 years for a December 2019 punch at a St. Clair Shores bar more than a year ago that killed Shawn Kubic.

Hatum Akrawi pleaded guilty earlier this month to manslaughter charges in the death of Kubic. He was supposed to have been sentenced shortly after accepting the plea on Feb. 10 but the judge said he needed to be in person for the sentencing.

Akrawi was originally charged with second-degree murder but that was later amended to manslaughter charges. The sucker-punch at Kapone's in St. Clair Shores happened on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019. 

The death of Shawn Kubic

Video of the punch was released by police a few days after Kubic died. In the video, the punch happens at the 16-second mark, just as the victim turns his head to talk to someone standing to his left. The suspect, identified as Akrawi, was standing to his right and punched him while he wasn't looking. 

The two do not appear to have been arguing or engaging one another, though witnesses told police the two had been arguing beforehand. 

Kubic was knocked unconscious immediately and fell to the ground. 

A man wearing a sweatshirt marked Security was standing right by the group and is seen walking the suspect off to the side after the assault before attending to Kubic. Another man from the group is seen throwing a drink in Kubic's direction. 

Kubic’s family wants to change state law so that suspects are charged with second-degree murder so who unprovoked sucker punches leading to someone's death. 

Fatal punch on camera

Surveillance video showed Kubick being punched at Kapone's as he wasn't looking. He cracked the back of his skull and died five days after the punch.

On Friday, Feb. 26, Akrawi was sentenced to 8 to 15 years in prison for the fatal punch that killed Kubic. 

Akrawi apologized to the family during the sentencing on Friday.

"So sorry. There's no excuse. There's nothing I can do to make what I did not happen again. I wish I could. Sorry to the family, more than anything, because they have to live with what I did forever too. It's terrible," he said.

Kubick's daughter speaks

After the judge and attorneys sorted out restitution and other court matters, Kubic's family spoke. Kubic's daughter said she wrote her statement multiple times.

"I think I could have 500 copies written but I could never be content with what I had," she said. "This past year, I found myself lying in bed most days. I failed two classes and the rest of my grades have been hanging on by a thread."

She went on, saying she refrains from taking big steps because "it doesn't feel right without (her) dad". 

She spoke about her father's funeral and Akrawi's arraignment, saying she couldn't comprehend why he smiled during his arraignment.

"A person who has caused so much misery was still able to experience the joy he took away from another. Frankly, it makes me sick to think about," she said. "My dad was not just some man who was sucker-punched in a bar. He had a family. He was a son, brother, uncle, and friend."

She described the things she misses most about her father - like holding her hand and inside jokes the two shared. 

"I have the rest of my life to live without my dad all because Hatum Akrawi couldn't keep his hands to himself. A four-year-old knows better than that," she said. "If he hadn't punched him, my dad would still be here today. Intentional or not, he took a life and he can't undo that."

She said Akrawi took his life for no reason and doesn't deserve a second chance.

"He shouldn't get to see his child just as I don't get to see my father. Even in 15 years, he'll still have visitation. I have to go to the cemetery to visit my dad."

She also said she believed he would do something like this again.

"He has a record. He will do something like this again. He's nothing more than scum off the back of my shoe," she said. "He's nothing more than a petty thief and a murderer."

Kubic's mother speaks

Shawn's mother, Kathryn, spoke next and recounted that moment she got a call about her son being hospitalized. She said she wanted to her son but was afraid of what she would find.

"We arrived and saw Shawn's lifeless body hooked up to a ventilator. His sweet face was a bit flushed and his left eye was bloody and black and blue. His head was wrapped in a bandage and had blood stains on it and along his right ear and mouth," she said.

Kathryn said she prayed that Shawn was unconscious before he experienced any pain.

That's when the doctor informed her that Shawn suffered a blow to the right side of his head and also to the back of his when he fell on the floor. She said that if someone would have helped him immediately, something different might have happened.

"Had someone helped my son immediately at the bar, perhaps the outcome may have been different," Kathryn said.

She said the bouncer helped Akrawi, and the group he was with, out of the building before police arrived.

"Shawn was a healthy, handsome, witty, funny, intelligent, sincere, so generous, loyal to a fault, affectionate, and faithful human being." 

She said her son was supposed to start a new job as a robotics engineer with Chrysler on January 6, 2020, just two weeks after his death. 

"He had worked so hard over the years and this new job was going to be the payoff for a well-planned tomorrow. But as you know, his dreams and mine for him would never come to pass thanks to a despicable excuse for a human being named Hatum Akrawi. Hatum, you viciously attacked my son for no reason and you showed no remorse or human sensibility for another human being. If Macomb County's judicial system fails us and this criminal is let back out on the streets too soon, this will happen again to another unsuspecting victim and family, when it could have been prevented," Kathryn said.

She said her son was the heart and soul of the family and they're still reeling from the vicious way he left this world.

Kathryn said she didn't believe her son's death was an accident.

"I want to know, does anyone in Macomb County care about the brutal attack on my son, which ended his life? It's clear to everyone that has seen the video evidence from Kapone's Bar, that Hatum and his friends planned this attack on Shawn. This was no accident, Hatum, and you know it. Yet the prosecuting attorneys on the case blatantly pushed back...denied the obvious evidence they witnessed. This was second-degree murder, not manslaughter," Kathryn said.

She pleaded with the judge to sentence him to the maximum years possible for the death of her son.

Shawn's sister says her brother was set up

Kelly Ingel, Shawn's sister, said her world was turned upside down on December 22, 2020.

"Shawn's brain stem was severely damaged and there was nothing they could do to repair it," Kelly said.

She said she touched his cheek and it was cold but the rest of his body was warm. The next day, Shawn was pronounced dead.

Kelly said that a man Akrawi was with tapped his arm to get his attention.

"At the exact moment Shawn turned his head...Akrawi put all of his weight into the most cowardly, heinous, and egregious punch to Shawn's temple. It knocked him unconscious immediately, causing him to fall to the ground, cracking the back of his skull," Kelly said. "Akrawi knew blindsiding Shawn with a sucker-punch was the only way he'd ever be able to take him down. Not one individual standing around that table came to Shawn's aid. Everyone that watched the video of the incident knows that Akrawi set him up."

She said her brother had a bright future and will now miss so many moments of his daughter's life, because of Akrawi's actions.