In Humble, Texas, Asif Maknojia, a 42-year-old convenience store clerk, lost his life in an act of violence following a confrontation with shoplifters on Friday, January 19, 2024.
On Sunday, January 21, two teenagers, Mario Young, aged 17, and 18-year-old Terrence Parker, wanted for capital murder, surrendered to the Houston Police Department in connection with the incident.
According to reports, the teens were accompanied by community activists Quanell X and Candice Matthews when they turned themselves in at the Houston Police Department headquarters.
Quanell X has communicated to the media that the teenagers are claiming self-defense in the incident.
They stand accused of fatally shooting the store clerk following a confrontation over a stolen bag of chips.
Surveillance footage at the Sunoco gas station on Highway 59 southbound service road showed the two teens entering the store, at which point they were followed by the employee who began to mop the floor.
The suspects appeared to focus on the chip aisle, with one teen allegedly concealing a bag of chips in his pants before leaving the store.
The clerk, whose identity remains undisclosed, pursued the suspects outside and then followed them in his car.
Assistant Police Chief Dan Zientek of the Humble Police Department said that one of the suspects began to shoot at the clerk, who attempted to reverse his car but was hit by one of the bullets and died while still in the driver’s seat. The vehicle ended up on a median.
According to community activist Quanell X, the teens asserted an involvement of multiple guns and suggested that the clerk might have been armed and initiated the confrontation.
This aspect of the story, however, remains unconfirmed. The Humble Police Department stated that they were looking into the matter.
Young, a student in the Humble Independent School District, has been charged with murder and is being held on $1000,000 bond at The Harris County Jail.
The other suspect, Terrence Parker, has not yet been charged with a crime.
The investigation by the Humble Police Department is ongoing.