CHICAGO (WLS) — A man has been charged with murder connected to the fatal shooting of a South Side convenience store employee in January.
The suspect, 45-year-old Jimmy Smith, allegedly shot 43-year-old Shadi Mohammad Suleimen Almomani just as he was getting off from work, Chicago police said.
Police said the shooting happened just after 10:15 p.m. on Jan. 9 in the alley of 300 block of East 79th Street, outside Half Moon Grocery.
Smith was arrested by police on Friday, and he is facing two felony counts for murder, and one felony count for armed robbery.
There was sadness, grief and outrage as Half Moon Grocery owner Rami Kanaan previously spoke to ABC7 in January about the murder of his longtime friend and employee.
“They just took my brother’s life over what? Over money!” Kanaan said. “It’s not worth it.”
Almomani was killed as he left work during what police said was an attempted armed robbery.
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Police said Almomani was sitting in his car, which was parked in the alley by the Grand Crossing store, when a man came up to him to rob him.
Investigators said the crime was captured by one of the store’s security cameras. The store’s owner described what the footage shows.
“He collected all his stuff, which is money and IDs and all. Then, when he started to defend himself, he shot him,” Kanaan said.
Almomani was shot in the head and died at the scene. Smith ran away from the scene, police said.
Friends said Almomani had been a police officer in Jordan before coming to the United States last August. He was working overnights at the store to provide a better life for his wife and three children back home.
Smith will appear in court Sunday for a hearing.
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