Man Shot Dead In Downtown Convenience Store
UPDATED 05/06/11 3:30 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An employee coming to work at a downtown convenience store Friday morning found a co-worker shot to death inside, and cash missing.
Ed Jernagin was found dead in the back of Wabash Food and Liquors, 234 S. Wabash. His family says he'd worked at the store for more than 20 years.
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CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports, while police are calling it a death investigation at this time, Jernagin's family feels he was murdered.
Police said Jernagin was found in a back office and money had been taken from him.
The suspect or suspects "entered the liquor store, subsequently shot and killed the victim and took proceeds,'' a police lieutenant said at the scene.
It was not known when the shooting took place and he said the store closed at 9 p.m. Thursday.
Family members of Jernagin were upset this morning as they gathered outside the store hoping to find out more about what happened to him.
"My brother didn't deserve this," said Jernagin's brother, George Miles. "He did not deserve this. He gave with his heart. He gave to everybody. He did not have a hating bone in his body. Not one hating bone."
A pile of clothes and personal items including a cell phone and wallet believed to belong to Jernagin were discovered burned under a viaduct about 15 miles away from scene, but police would not confirm if they were connected to the case.
"If you needed anything you just had to ask," said Jernagin's sister, Vera. "If he had to give you a little odd job or something, you would get it. It was wrong. I wish to God you never killed my brother,"
The employee who found the man is not considered a suspect, and the incident is not thought to be linked to any other robberies in the area, according to the lieutenant.
Police were hoping cameras inside and outside had captured pictures.
Mani Kavukatt, who works next door at Central Camera said the victim was known as "Eddie." Others said they saw him every day behind the counter.
"He was a very nice guy; a beautiful guy. I used to call him my play-father, because we used to talk all the time, and he reminded me of my dad," said one woman who said she had known the man for 11 years.
She said she met the man "just coming into the store one day, and then I just continued to come in, and we would talk… and he used to have all the homeless guys standing outside the store; a beautiful guy."
Kelly Benson, who also works nearby, said she hopes if the man was murdered, his assailant will soon be caught.
"Why and how I don't know, but whoever it was, I hope they get him, period," Benson said. "You know, because you just can't go around hurting people – especially people like him."
Kavukatt said around 7:30 a.m., he saw a light on inside the victim's store, which he said is not unusual because sometimes Eddie would already be inside, or just opening up.
He went inside the camera store and turned off the alarm, but about 15 minutes later, he saw a few people looking into the victim's store and wondered why.
Kavukatt then saw a security guard he knows who is "always there'' standing outside the store. He asked the guard what was going on.
"He said it's not open,'' Kavukatt said. After that multiple police cars and an ambulance came to the scene. Police were using yellow crime scene ribbon to cordon off the area.
