STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Store Clerk Found Guilty Of Murdering A 17-Year-Old Over A Two Dollar Drink

Dorian Harris was shot and killed in March of 2018.

A two dollar beverage cost Dorian Harris his life.

Tennessee store clerk, Anwar Ghazali, was put on trial for chasing and murdering the 17-year-old who stole an alcoholic drink on March 30, 2018.

Harris entered the store around 10:00 p.m. and was there for a total of seven seconds. Surveillance footage showed him grabbing a beer from the cooler and exiting the store. Ghazali followed behind him. 

The 29-year-old former Top Stop convenience store employee chased after him, shooting his gun. He did not report the theft or shooting to police or emergency services, but told a witness, “I think I shot him.”

Prosecutors said after firing his gun, Ghazali simply walked back inside the store to continue assisting customers.

USA Today reports Ghazali's defense tried to prove Harris’ death was accidental, as their client never intended to kill Harris as he fled the North Memphis store. His defense lawyers claimed Ghazali fired a weapon upward into the night air as Harris ran away, intended to be warning shots. 

But Harris was shot by a bullet that wounded his femoral artery, causing him to bleed out as he continued to run through the neighborhood. 

Two days later, his body was discovered by a neighbor behind an abandoned house nearby. 

"The defendant took it upon himself to be the judge, the jury and the executioner over a $2 [drink]. That's why we're here," said Lora Fowler in her closing statement. "Why are you using deadly force to defend a [drink]?"

Ghazali was found guilty of murder in the second degree by a jury today in a Shelby County criminal court. In Tennessee, second-degree murder charge is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison.

According to reports, Ghazali sat emotionless as he was read his fate. He will be sentenced on September 23.

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