Jury chooses not to indict teen charged with murdering Texas clerk over a bag of chips

A pair of teens entered a Sunoco convenience store in Humble, Texas, on Jan. 19. After shoplifting, they left the 42-year-old clerk dead in his car.

Although the 18-year-old present for Asif Maknojia's slaying was never charged, the apparent shooter, 17-year-old Mario Young, was charged with capital murder.

This week, a Harris County grand jury spared Young from any consequence, deciding not to indict him for murder.

The shooter's mother has painted her son as a victim, and Young's attorney Lott Brooks reiterated that the teen had just acted out of self-defense, reported KTRK-TV

Surveillance footage shows Young and his 18-year-old friend enter the convenience store around 11:25 a.m. with dark hoodies pulled over their heads. Maknojia followed them in, dressed in an orange and black jacket.

While the clerk resumed mopping the floor, he noticed one of the teens stuff a bag of chips into his pants.

Maknojia followed the teens outside then confronted the duo.

A witness told KPRC-TV that he saw the clerk follow the young men out of the store.

"I'm just kind of being a little nosy, looking to see what's going on. He seemed to be confronting the gentlemen about something," said the unnamed witness. "It didn't seem to be that serious."

While Young reportedly walked toward the rear of the store, the other teen paused to brandish a bottle of Gatorade, which was apparently also taken from the store, then point it at the clerk.

According to the witness, the clerk returned to the store, and the apparent shoplifters walked over to a grassy area nearby. Maknojia reportedly went back outside and yelled at the teens, telling them to return to the store. They responded with an obscene gesture.

When the teens began jogging away, the clerk allegedly got into his car and pulled up to the duo — at which point the witness heard two gunshots.

According to the Humble Police Department, one of the suspects opened fire on the victim's vehicle, striking and killing the clerk.

Humble Assistant Police Chief Dan Zientek told KPRC, "They started shooting at him, in which he tried to reverse his car and ended up on the median over there."

The witness rushed over and found Maknojia slumped over behind the wheel of his car.

"Hey, buddy. Hey, are you OK?" the witness recalled saying to the victim before calling 911. "When I looked through the window, he seemed to be unresponsive," noting that it appeared the clerk had been unarmed.

While the teens later claimed the clerk was armed, neither court documents nor the police provided any indication the clerk had a gun at the time.

After a brief manhunt, Young and his compatriot turned themselves in with the help of Quanell X, the former national chairman of the New Black Panther Nation.

Zientek told KPRC, "No one ever anticipates just going to work that day and not coming home."

"You've lost a great citizen who's just trying to work and do their job, and instead we have two people that also have ruined their lives because they will be going to jail," added Zientek.

Evidently, the chief hadn't considered the possibility that a jury would cut Young loose.

KRIV-TV indicated that part of Brooks' strategy for getting his client's case thrown out was having him tell his sob story to the jury.

"I wanted him to be there with the grand jury, be honest and tell them exactly what happened," said Brooks.

"It is just absolutely devastating, and I know my client is very upset about what happened," added Brooks, who said he didn't know where Young acquired the firearm that was used to kill Maknojia.

Precious Ferguson, Young's mother, told KTRK her son was "physically and mentally depressed, he's stressed, and he's going to need some counseling."

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