Tennessee Store Clerk Charged With Murder in Shooting of Black Teen for Allegedly Stealing Beer

A Memphis, Tenn., store clerk is facing first-degree murder charges after authorities say he fatally shot a 17-year-old black boy he accused of stealing beer from the convenience store. Suggested Reading Three Friends Were Headed To A Beyoncรฉ Concert, But One Dies On the Way. Guess What The Other Two Did Next? Our Fave Moments…

A Memphis, Tenn., store clerk is facing first-degree murder charges after authorities say he fatally shot a 17-year-old black boy he accused of stealing beer from the convenience store.

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WREG-TV reports that 28-year-old Anwar Ghazali, a clerk at Top Stop Shop, chased Dorian Harris after the teen allegedly stole a beer, shooting the teen from behind.

The incident happened Thursday, but to make matters worse, authorities say that Ghazali didnโ€™t even report firing his weapon at someone or bother to see if he had hit anyone, and so Dorianโ€™s body was left where the 17-year-old fell. His body wasnโ€™t discovered until two days later, on Saturday, near Sarah Pattonโ€™s house, a few yards away from the store.

โ€œHe didnโ€™t have to kill him, you know?โ€ Patton told the news station.

Patton said that she heard the shot but didnโ€™t see either Ghazali or Dorian, so she initially thought nothing of it.

She said that she didnโ€™t realize the teenโ€™s body was near her house until authorities told her.

โ€œI didnโ€™t see it,โ€ she said. โ€œIf I knew that it was back there, I would have called the folks before now.โ€

Ghazali, for his part, according to the report, suspected that he had hit Dorian but apparently couldnโ€™t be assed.

โ€œI think I shot him,โ€ Ghazali told a witness at the store after he walked back in after the shooting, according to the report.

Ghazali later told police that he shot at Dorian several times. He is scheduled to appear before a judge Monday morning.

โ€œIt shouldnโ€™t have happened like that,โ€ Dorianโ€™s grandmother Effie Fitch told WMC Action News 5. โ€œHe was a child and that was an adult. He ought to have more responsibility than that and heโ€™s running a business.โ€

Family members said that Dorian often stopped by the store and did odd jobs for the store owner. On the day he was killed, he had stopped by before heading to a cousinโ€™s house, where he would have spent the night, the family said.

โ€œIf he had said something, Dorianโ€™s life couldโ€™ve been saved. You donโ€™t shoot nobody Thursday and here it is Saturday and you ainโ€™t said nothing about it,โ€ Fitch said.

โ€œThey know us. You didnโ€™t have to do nothing but just say, โ€˜Dorian [is] in here picking up something,โ€™ which that ainโ€™t him, I donโ€™t think. But if he did do it, like children do, why you just didnโ€™t tell him he canโ€™t come to the store no more?โ€ the grieving grandmother added.

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