A Florida man will spend the rest of his life in prison after walking into a jewelry store, pulling a handgun out of his pocket, and fatally shooting the store owner.
John Craiger, 83, received his destiny on Tuesday, following the death of Ghazi Osta, 68. Craiger’s punishment came one day after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
“I’ve been living with an unfathomable nightmare for more than three months. “So much pain, so much pain,” the victim’s wife lamented at the sentencing hearing, according to local CBS affiliate WKMG. “This has all been very difficult.”
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“Our family has suffered a tremendous loss,” she told me. “Ghazi was my 39-year-old spouse and father of four broken-hearted children. “Your cowardly actions have destroyed a community that once loved Ghazi.”
A Daytona Beach Police Department affidavit outlines how the homicide occurred on July 19 at Gold & Diamond, located at 536 W. International Speedway Blvd. Witnesses from the store, including the owner’s son, told authorities about the tragic events of the day.
The victim’s son told police that he was at the back of the business when he heard his father exclaim, “Get this guy out of my store!” before gunfire erupted.
The son stated that he took out his revolver and dashed to the front of the store, where he spotted his father laying on the floor — and Craiger, who was also on the floor, still holding his gun.
The son informed authorities that he pointed his gun at the defendant and shot him one to three times. Craiger then returned fire, according to the affidavit.
The son claimed he hid behind the counter and crawled away to avoid the gunfire. Behind the counter, he dialed 911 and waited for officers to come.
A second witness, who was also a store employee, informed police that he was just a few feet away from the interaction and saw everything, including the disagreement that led to the violence. He claimed Craiger appeared unhappy about a recent transaction involving him and the victim.
“As the two argued, the defendant challenged the victim to engage him in a physical altercation, demanding that the victim meet him in the parking lot,” according to the paperwork. “The victim ordered the defendant to leave his store which the defendant refused to do.”
The victim threatened to contact the police if the defendant would not leave the store, and when he looked down toward the counter, the defendant took a revolver from his pocket and approached the counter, according to the document.
“Hey, Gus!” the defendant exclaimed, according to the affidavit. “The victim looked up at the defendant and the defendant fired his gun at the victim about three times.”
The second witness stated that he then sank to the ground and crawled away to escape being shot.
During the ruckus, a third witness ran from the back of the store, whacked the defendant in the back of the head with a brass-colored vase, disarmed him, and held him down until police came, according to the affidavit.
Osta’s widow described her son as a hero to Fox affiliate WOFL.
“He is crying and says, ‘Mommy, you need to come to the store!'” “Daddy has been shot,” she said. “To me, he’s a hero because he saved himself and neutralized the horrible person.”
Police discovered Ghazi Osta behind the counter with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. He died in the hospital. Craiger was on the ground in the front showroom area, suffering from gunshot wounds to his legs and head trauma. Craiger was brought to the hospital and treated for four gunshot wounds in his legs before being placed into jail.
Osta was recalled on GoFundMe as a devoted father of four. The store had been operated by a Lebanese native for nearly four decades.
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The post ‘Daddy’s been shot’: Florida man sentenced for shooting jewelry store owner in the head over a transaction originally appeared on Law & Crime.