After three days of testimony, a jury has deliberated in the murder case against a store clerk accused of killing a teen who stole a beer.
Former store clerk Anwar Ghazali was accused of shooting and killing 17-year-old Dorian Harris on March 30, 2018.
Via usatoday
He was found guilty of murder in the second degree by a jury today in a Shelby County criminal court.
Ghazali, 29, who did not testify during his trial, was expressionless after the verdict was read. He will be sentenced on September 23.
In Tennessee, second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison.
Ghazali’s defense said he never intended to kill Harris as he fled the Top Stop store in North Memphis after stealing an alcoholic beverage. Rather, Ghazali fired a weapon upward into the night air as Harris ran away. The rounds fired were meant to be warning shots, the defense said.
But Harris was struck by a bullet that severed his femoral artery, causing the teen to bleed out as he continued to flee through the surrounding neighborhood.
Harris’ body was found behind an abandoned house nearby.
Ghazali, who did not alert police or emergency services after firing his gun, was 77 feet from Dorian Harris when he started to chase after him — a distance the defense said proved that Ghazali could not have intended to strike the teen.
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