A North Texas woman is charged with capital murder after shooting and killing a seller during a Facebook Marketplace meetup, police say.
Dallas police responded to reports of a shooting at a gas station on the 300 block of South Marsalis Ave on Nov. 8 at about 3 p.m.
The victim, 66-year-old Ahmad Akhalaf, was found at the scene with gunshot wounds. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Detectives say gas station surveillance video showed the shooter, later identified as 19-year-old Amaya Medrano, waiting in the parking lot as Akhalaf's truck pulled into the station and parked. Medrano met Akhalaf at the passenger side of the truck for a brief conversation.
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Shortly after, Medrano ran from the truck before turning around and shooting Akhalaf once. Police say there was no sign of a disturbance before the shooting.
According to Dallas PD, Akhalaf's family believed he was selling an Apple iPhone 15 on Facebook Marketplace at the time. Detectives found the original online listing with messages between Akhalaf and an account that did not belong to Medrano, agreeing to meet at the gas station to buy the phone.
Further investigation located two witnesses who said they had seen Medrano in the area but didn't know her personally.
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However, one witness provided an Instagram account that Medrano was tagged in. Detectives later found this witness in numerous photos with Medrano across different social media platforms. The witness was taken into custody, where they received multiple calls while in jail from a number associated with Medrano.
The same Facebook profile that had previously messaged Akhalaf was advertising an iPhone matching the description of the phone he was selling.
Medrano was arrested Wednesday by U.S. Marshalls and taken to the Dallas County Jail. She is facing one charge of capital murder.
Police have not released whether the witness was involved in the murder or if Medrano has legal representation at this time.
