A 28-year-old store clerk at Top Stop Shop in Memphis, Tenn. is charged with first-degree murder after fatally shooting 17-year-old Dorian Harris.

The incident, which occurred on Thursday, began when Anwar Ghazali thought Harris stole a beer from the convenience store where Ghazali worked. According to WREG Memphis, when Harris walked away from the store, Ghazali shot him in the back. 

Ghazali admits to firing several shots at the boy.

Instead of checking to see what damage had been done, Ghazali went back into the store after firing, saying "I think I shot him." However, despite knowledge that he may have shot the teen, he did not report anything to the police or call for help. Harris was left to die where he was discovered two days later, near Sarah Patton's home. 

Patton, who lived a few yards from the store, says she heard a gunshot but saw nothing. 

"I didn't see anybody running or anything, so I didn't think anymore about it," she said describing how she looked out of her window upon hearing the gun fired. "He didn't have to kill him, you know?"

Ghazali was scheduled to appear before a judge this morning, April 2.

“Whatever he deserves, give it to him,” Patton told Fox 13.

Harris's grandmother, Effie Fitch, spoke with WMC ActionNews 5 saying that Harris was familiar with the store as the owner often let him do odd jobs. 

"It shouldn't have happened like that," Fitch said. "He was a child and that was an adult. He ought to have more responsibility than that and he's running a business."

Dorian was on his way to his cousin's house for a sleepover during the three-day holiday weekend, but he never made it. 

"They know us. You didn't have to do nothing but just say, 'Dorian [is] in here picking up something,' which that ain't him, I don't think," the grieving grandmother said. "But if he did do it like children do, why you just didn't tell him he can't come to the store no more?"

Anwar GhazaliBlack TeenagerDorian HarrisGun violence