17 year old arrested in convenience store murder

Published April 12, 2012

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Amarillo, TX - A 17 year old said to be involved in the murder of an area convenience store owner has been booked into the Potter County Detention Center.

Amarillo, TX - A 17 year old said to be involved in the murder of an area convenience store owner has been booked into the Potter County Detention Center.

17 year old Pshard Andre Smith was arrested Thursday evening at Hamlet Park in connection with the shooting death of Adrian Chavez at La Esquina convenience store on Sunday.

Chavez was in the store when two black males entered and shot Chavez in the upper body before fleeing.

Information developed during the investigation helped police identify the shooter, and a tip to Amarillo Crime Stoppers helped validate the information.

Smith has been booked on a murder warrant.

Teenager charged in store owner's death

Excerpt

Prosecutors charged a teenager with murder Friday after police said he fatally shot an Amarillo convenience store owner last week.
Amarillo SWAT officers arrested Pshard Andre Smith, 17, Thursday a…

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Prosecutors charged a teenager with murder Friday after police said he fatally shot an Amarillo convenience store owner last week.

Amarillo SWAT officers arrested Pshard Andre Smith, 17, Thursday after an unidentified eyewitness selected him in a photo lineup. Smith was taken to the Potter County jail, where he remained Friday on a $1-million bond.

Officers arrested Smith at Hamlet Park on Thursday night on a murder warrant in the shooting death of Adrian Chavez, 47, police said. The charge, a first-degree felony, carries a prison sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

CrimeStoppers tipsters and other unidentified sources told police about an eyewitness who knew about the shooting Sunday, according to the criminal complaint.

Police showed several photographs to the eyewitness, who identified Smith as someone who approached him about a robbery near the actual incident, the complaint said.

The eyewitness described Smith's physical appearance and his clothing at the time, court documents said.

About 10:15 p.m. Sunday, two black men wearing bandannas entered La Esquina convenience store on 1500 N. Mirror St., and one man shot Chavez, police said.

Chavez died of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to a preliminary autopsy report.

The victim's wife, Maria Chavez, said Monday the two men fled the store without taking anything.

They were last seen running north on North Mirror Street, police said.

According to the complaint, the unidentified eyewitness' description of Smith matched one of the men from the store's surveillance video.

Police did not disclose what type of gun was used or how many times Chavez was shot.

Police are still searching for the second man involved in the shooting incident, police said.

Maria Chavez could not be reached for comment.

Tamela Smith, 21, said her brother, Pshard Smith, had been in and out of their home in the 1200 block of Pecan Avenue on Easter Sunday.

She said the last time she saw him was in their home about 10 or 11 p.m. on April 8.

Her mother told her that Pshard Smith was sleeping over at their older sister's home, Tamela Smith said.

Tamela Smith said her brother had been wearing a black tank top and blue jeans before he left.

Pshard Smith, the youngest of four children, recently lost his job at Wendy's, and things slowly went downhill from there, she said.

He liked to "goof off" and have fun, Tamela Smith said.

But, she said, Pshard wouldn't kill someone for nothing.

"He's not a fighter," she said. "Why would you go in and kill a man for nothing?"

Tamela Smith said the family is asking police for answers.

"We just want to get to the bottom of it," she said. "My grandpa said, 'If we're grieving, (the Chavezes) are grieving harder,' because someone is dead, and he isn't ever coming back. God is going to work. He's going to let justice be served."