On May 14, 2020, Micheal Wayne Pennington was killed. Anijah Yarnell fatally shot the unarmed 33-year-old single father during a confrontation. According to prosecutors, Mike had been trying to protect a woman from Anijah at the time. A relative of the woman has backed up this claim, writing in a social media post, "Anijah went there to kill his pregnant girlfriend. My family witnessed the whole thing. Mike went there to protect our cousin from this scum bag. He was harassing my cousin all day. He's a murderer!!!" Anijah asserted that the shooting was in self-defense, and has been placed on house arrest pending trial.