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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Crime Teen Charged For Ballard Convenience Store Murder

Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 2:47 PM

The 17-year-old boy who allegedly fatally shot convenience store clerk Manish Melwani told police he attempted to rob a Ballard convenience store on July 26th because he was "broke and needed money," court documents say.

King County prosecutors have charged 17-year-old Elijah Hall with first degree murder, and he will be tried as an adult.

At 6:28 a.m., documents say, Hall walked into the Pit Stop Express on 15th Ave NW and NW 60th Street, went behind the unattended counter and attempted to take money from the cash register. Melwani walked out of the store's back room and approached Hall, who then fired two rounds from a .38 revolver and fled the store.

Police released surveillance camera footage of the robbery—showing Hall, prosecutors say, wearing sunglasses, a bandanna and a hat—a and later that day, a Ballard resident called police to tell them he'd found similar clothing dumped in his yard a few blocks from the crime scene.

Police arrived to collect the evidence and noticed a young man and woman standing across the street, intently watching detectives. Police noticed that the young man looked very similar to the robber shown in the video.

The next day, police were able to identify Hall as the robber through fingerprints, court documents say, and served a warrant on his home, five blocks from the crime scene, where they found clothing and ammunition matching that used by the gunman.

Police interviewed Hall who, records say, admitted to shooting Melwani, and told detectives he only intended to shoot him in the leg.

Hall's arraignment is scheduled for August 11th.

Comments (12) RSS

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senseless.

Posted by Max Solomon on July 30, 2009 at 3:03 PM

Broke, needed money, and apparently dumb as a fucking post.

Posted by tiktok on July 30, 2009 at 3:11 PM

Wow, don't kids watch Law & Order these days?

Posted by w7ngman

on July 30, 2009 at 3:22 PM

Any cop will tell you that the old cliche about ciminals returning to the scene of the crime is true...
"Police arrived to collect the evidence and noticed a young man and woman standing across the street, intently watching detectives."

Posted by that was easy... on July 30, 2009 at 3:23 PM

Fortunately for the interests of justice, people low enough to do this sort of shit are stupid enough to be apprehended.

Posted by Paul F on July 30, 2009 at 3:23 PM

When I worked graveyard shift at the Circle K on Eastlake years ago, I used to think very single person who came through the door was going to shoot me, especially after the one time I called 911 for cops to come stop a knife fight out front and the police never showed up, ever. Oh, wait -- they did show up in a few mornings later for donuts and coffee and the advice to get myself brought to Harborview when (not if) I got shot on the job.

Posted by good good times on July 30, 2009 at 3:53 PM

Another case of the parents lacking a license to beget and then to rear a child. Many lives ruined all around due to impulsive stupidity.

Posted by Rhett Oracle on July 30, 2009 at 7:15 PM

Piece of fucking human garbage.

Posted by J. Wayne on July 31, 2009 at 8:12 AM

He was broke, and needed some money...soooo...his feeble brain kicks into gear and tells him, "yeah, you can get some money...go STEAL it--and bring a gun, in case someone wants to STOP you--and SHOOT THEM if they do"...good parenting seems not to have been applied, or, he was such a liar and sociopath that he had his parents fooled--both are sad testimony of our culture.
Condolences to the family of the hard-working victim.

Posted by justbitching on July 31, 2009 at 10:28 AM

i know eligah hall, and i know he would never mean to kill anybody, he was very aggressive guy, but funny, and weird, at least he xpress to me, we went to school together.

Posted by By.Namo on November 27, 2009 at 5:21 AM

i know eligah hall, and i know he would never mean to kill anybody, yes, he was a very aggressive guy, but funny, and weird, but you never know who people really are, we went to school together.

Posted by By.Namo on November 27, 2009 at 5:30 AM

that my bro elijah an i know he didnt mean to kill the man
i want him to keep his head up and kno his bros are here if he needs them

Posted by blakc dre on January 4, 2010 at 12:27 PM