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 didnโt even report firing his weapon at someone or bother to see if he had hit anyone, and so Dorianโs body was left where the 17-year-old fell. His body wasnโt discovered until two days later, on Saturday, near Sarah Pattonโs house, a few yards away from the store.
โHe didnโt have to kill him, you know?โ Patton told the news station.
Patton said that she heard the shot but didnโt see either Ghazali or Dorian, so she initially thought nothing of it.
She said that she didnโt realize the teenโs body was near her house until authorities told her.
โI didnโt see it,โ she said. โIf 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 couldnโt be assed.
โI 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.
โIt shouldnโt have happened like that,โ Dorianโs grandmother Effie Fitch told WMC Action News 5. โHe was a child and that was an adult. He ought to have more responsibility than that and heโs 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 cousinโs house, where he would have spent the night, the family said.
โIf he had said something, Dorianโs life couldโve been saved. You donโt shoot nobody Thursday and here it is Saturday and you ainโt said nothing about it,โ Fitch said.
โThey know us. You didnโt have to do nothing but just say, โDorian [is] in here picking up something,โ which that ainโt him, I donโt think. But if he did do it, like children do, why you just didnโt tell him he canโt come to the store no more?โ the grieving grandmother added.
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