Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Remembering the Murder of a Convenience Store Clerk

Clifford A. Brown
By Clifford A. Brown
Clifford A. Brown Contributor
Retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a Colonel after 30 years of active and reserve assignments. M.A. Political Science, M.S. Strategic Studies, Army War College, JD. Served in 1st Armored Division in West Germany when the Berlin Wall came down, in 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea during the regime of Kim Il Sung, and commanded a logistics battalion in Iraq 2003-2004. Wide-ranging public policy interests. Occasional home brewer and infuser of alcohol spirits.
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7 COMMENTS
 

One year ago, around midnight, as Saturday turned into Sunday the 16th of December, 2018, a gunman entered a small independent convenience store. The space inside is tight, very close quarters, and the clerk decided to fight for his life and his co-workers, instead of accepting whatever fate the thug decided. The clerk, Jose Alcaraz-Hernandez, lost his life, and a co-worker was seriously wounded. The crime has not been solved in the year since that night.

The large group of prayer candles and flowers gave way in fairly short order to a permanent wooden cross. The hand-painted cross outside the store tells us that Jose Hernandez was born November 18, 1964, and was killed on December 16, 2018. From a photograph put up in the first days, we know him to have been a grandfather. We know nothing of the killer. If the police know more, they are not saying so to the public.

Visiting the site on the anniversary evening of this crime, the memorial was little changed. A few flat stones, for candles, and rounded stones to keep the cross upright in the dirt, were added. Two candles had been blown out by the wind. Perhaps someday the killer will be found in this world. Of a certainty, there is one Judge who saw, who sees, and who will give justice in the end.

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  1. CarolJoy, Thread Hijacker Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Thread Hijacker

    This is such a tragic tale, and it is one repeated in almost every community across America.

    In one neighboring town, the convenience store clerk who was killed was known as every other person’s good friend. Large turnout for his wake and funeral; also the police did catch the perp.

    These murders are so senseless. In many cases, there are even signs saying that all the clerk has at his disposal is the cash in the drawer; not more than fifty bucks if that. (Most of us are now using debit/credit cards, so robbers are killing store clerks for almost nothing.)

    Sad that working the night shift at a local store is a job worthy of combat pay.

    • #1
    • December 17, 2019, at 12:16 AM PST
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    • 8 likes
  2. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):

    This is such a tragic tale, and it is one repeated in almost every community across America.

    In one neighboring town, the convenience store clerk who was killed was known as every other person’s good friend. Large turnout for his wake and funeral; also the police did catch the perp.

    These murders are so senseless. In many cases, there are even signs saying that all the clerk has at his disposal is the cash in the drawer; not more than fifty bucks if that. (Most of us are now using debit/credit cards, so robbers are killing store clerks for almost nothing.)

    Sad that working the night shift at a local store is a job worthy of combat pay.

    Very sad indeed. As to the signs, I guess these guys can’t read. There was one such robbery a few years back where the robber killed the clerk and got away with $11.

    • #2
    • December 17, 2019, at 6:19 AM PST
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    • 6 likes
  3. Rodin Member
    Rodin

    Clifford A. Brown: Of a certainty, there is one Judge who saw, who sees, and who will give justice in the end.

    It is that belief that sustains civilization when our human institutions of justice fail or disappoint. Our hearts cry out for balance in the scales of justice. Mercy may as be, but accountability must precede.

    • #3
    • December 17, 2019, at 6:56 AM PST
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    • 7 likes
  4. Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu Inactive
    Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu

    34% of murders in America are unsolved crimes.

    • #4
    • December 17, 2019, at 10:02 AM PST
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    • 2 likes
  5. Rodin Member
    Rodin

    Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu (View Comment):

    34% of murders in America are unsolved crimes.

    Really fascinating chart. Not quite sure how it is meant to be read. If a clearance in 2018 is for a 1965 murder, in what year would it be listed as a clearance?

    • #5
    • December 17, 2019, at 12:41 PM PST
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    • 2 likes
  6. Manny Member
    Manny

    These tragedies always sadden me. Families never really recover on top of the innocent life lost. What city did this occur in? May Jose rest in peace. May consolation come to the family.

    • #6
    • December 17, 2019, at 2:43 PM PST
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    • 2 likes
  7. Clifford A. Brown Contributor
    Clifford A. Brown
    Post author

    Manny (View Comment):

    These tragedies always sadden me. Families never really recover on top of the innocent life lost. What city did this occur in? May Jose rest in peace. May consolation come to the family.

    Mesa, Arizona.

    • #7
    • December 17, 2019, at 3:08 PM PST
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    • 1 like

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