TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — A Tarrant County jury sentenced a man to death Wednesday for murdering a convenience store owner during a robbery in 2020.
According to a press release from the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells, on March 27, 2020, 48-year-old Christopher Turner entered the Super Big Country Mart south of Fort Worth wearing a surgical mask and a glove.
The DA said Turner held a gun to the back of the head of the store owner, 62-year-old Anwar Ali, and walked him through the store.
According to the DA, Ali did everything that Turner asked him to do, including opening the cash register to give him money. Turner made Ali go to the bathroom, get on his knees and then he executed him, the DA said.
Moments later, the DA said Turner fled the store in Ali's minivan with the money from the register and Ali's wallet. In the van, Turner found over $50,000 cash in a black bag.
According to the DA, an hour later, Ali was found dead in the bathroom with a gunshot to his neck.
In the days following the murder, the DA said Turner went on a shopping spree, buying cars, jewelry, drugs, clothes and more before he fled to Colorado.
Once he fled, U.S. Marshals arrested him and found the murder weapon on him, the DA said.
"This was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder," Assistant DA Charles Boulware told the jury. "From the moment he was charged with this crime, he has tried to escape responsibility."
Allenna Bangs, another assistant DA, said before the trial began, Turner got the names of the jurors and their phone numbers and gave them to an inmate charged with murder.
The DA said in the release that Ali came to the U.S. from Pakistan in pursuit of the American dream and at the age of 62, his dream was taken by someone who lacked respect for human life.
