When two high school students walked into a convenience store in Humble, Texas, no one could have imagined what was about to unfold.
Store clerk Asif Maknojia decided to take the law into his own hands and paid the ultimate price when he jumped into his car to chase down the teens he believed stole a bag of chips. It triggered a series of events that would change everyone’s lives forever.
“If I could go back in time, I would pull out my car and block his car,” said an unidentified witness who claimed to NBC affiliate KRPC-2 to have seen the confrontation. “Or just said, ‘Hey, man. It’s not worth it.’”
Mario Young, a 17-year-old with no criminal history, was accused in the fatal shooting of Maknojia and charged with murder as an adult. A Harris County grand jury’s decision not to indict the teen leaves little doubt about his claim of self-defense during the deadly exchange on Jan. 19.
Young and his unidentified 18-year-old friend, who was not charged, said that Maknojia brandished a gun and they feared for their lives — but court documents do not confirm or deny whether a gun was found in Maknojia’s car.
Surveillance footage pulled from that day shows Young and his friend entering the Sunoco convenience store on Highway 59 in the Houston suburb, followed closely by store clerk Maknojia. As they browse around the snack aisle, the footage shows one of the teens shoplifting a bag of chips from a low shelf while Maknojia busies himself nearby.
The video continues outside the store, showing the 42-year-old clerk confronting one of the teens as he leaves on foot. That is where the footage ends.
The witness, who chose to remain anonymous, claims that the teens walked across a grassy field behind the building, and Maknojia followed them. Words were exchanged, and the teens made “an obscene gesture” at the store clerk, who then allegedly jumped into his car and pulled alongside them as they were jogging off, according to reporting by local station KRPC-2.
The witness remembered hearing several gunshots and saw one of the teens firing on Maknojia’s car.
“I could never have imagined on this day, on this very day, that this would happen over a bag of chips,” he said. “Infinite lives are changed over a bag of chips.”
The witness then said he approached the car to find Maknojia’s lifeless body slumped over the front seat and immediately called 911.
Young, who quickly turned himself in to the police after the incident, is now a free person after a grand jury returned a no-bill ruling on April 18.
His mother, Precious Ferguson, has not commented on the decision, but she expressed condolences to Maknojia’s family in a press conference outside the courtroom. She also spoke of her concern over her son’s mental state.
“He’s physically and mentally depressed, he’s stressed, and he’s going to need some counseling,” Ferguson said, visibly shaken.
There’s always a possibility the DA could present the case to another grand jury and re-file charges, but so far, there’s no indication that this will happen.
Additionally, no information was released on how Young acquired a gun or if charges would be pressed; in Texas, you must be at least 21 years old to carry a handgun in a public place.
“It was just a very bad situation, and we want everyone to know that the system worked for this young man,” said Young’s attorney, Lott Brooks, at a press conference, per Houston Public Media. He continued, “These young men were not guilty of anything other than trying to protect themselves at a time when they thought something was going to happen to them.”
