City of Richmond

2400 block of Jefferson Davis Highway

Gunshot

Robbery

Friends mourn slain owner of South Richmond market
By Joe Macenka

Published: June 11, 2009

A co-owner of a South Richmond convenience store was found shot to death after a robbery, again underscoring the potential dangers of working in such small retail businesses.

Police said Ashraf M. Alatiyat, 30, was declared dead at the scene of the shooting late Tuesday night at the Come and Go Food Market in the 2400 block of Jefferson Davis Highway.

It was the eighth time in less than eight years that the robbery or attempted robbery of a small business in the Richmond area ended with a fatal shooting.

Richmond police said the lone suspect in Alatiyat’s slaying was a black male, 6 feet 1 inch tall, wearing a green poncho, black trousers, gold glasses and a floppy white fishing hat. The suspect appeared to be in his mid-20s with a slight beard and weighs about 170 pounds.

Capt. Harvey Powers said police, who had a grainy security-camera photo of the man, were able to obtain a detailed description of the person because there were witnesses in the store, which was open for business at the time of the 10:38 p.m. shooting.

The store is in a small strip mall called the Marketplace at Jefferson Trace.

Customers and friends gathered outside the store yesterday evening, paying their respects by signing a poster with “Missing you Alex!!“ written across it. Alatiyat was known in the neighborhood as Alex.

Friends said he had two older brothers and that he would cut his customers a break when they were low on money.

“He was flirtatious with the women,“ said Mercedes Braxton, 19.

“Very flirtatious,“ said Braxton’s mother, Paulette Braxton, recalling how Alatiyat would joke he was going to marry her and would rub women’s hands as he took their money in the store.

Ian Cooper, 36, said that when his mother got sick last year and he thought she would die, Alatiyat assured him she would be OK. “He prayed for her,“ Cooper said, and she still is alive.

Hugo Bradby, who runs Noah’s T-shirt Shop next door to the Come and Go, also praised Alatiyat. Despite Alatiyat’s violent death, Bradby said he was not worried about his store.

“I’m a Christian,“ Bradby said. “I love Jesus Christ. I pray over my store every morning.“

The neighborhood is part of the police department’s Sector 213, which was cited in 2007 for leading all sectors in the city with a 35 percent drop in major crime from the previous year.

It’s an area dominated by warehouses, convenience stores, used-car dealerships—and police.

“With all the police presence around here, I’m surprised this happened,“ said the owner of a nearby convenience store, who spoke on the condition that he and his store not be identified.

The man, who said he has owned his store for almost two years, said marked Richmond police cruisers frequently patrol Jefferson Davis Highway.

“I had heard that they used to have problems in this area,“ the store owner said, “but honestly, I’ve never had a problem here. That’s why it was a shock when I heard what happened.“

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.