Jury finds man guilty of capital murder in shooting of Tarrant County store owner
A 48-year-old man has been found guilty of capital murder in the shooting death of a North Texas convenience store owner during a 2020 robbery.
The trial of Christopher Turner is continuing this week in 432nd District Court in Tarrant County for the punishment phase, in which jurors will decide whether he will face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
The jury convicted Turner of killing 62-year-old Anwar Ali at Ali’s business, the Super Big Country Mart at FM 1187 and Stevenson Levy Road.
The slaying was motivated by Turner’s greed and indifference to the value of human life, Assistant Criminal District Attorney Allenna Bangs told the jury on Nov. 4 in the prosecution’s opening statement.
Originally from Pakistan, Ali lived in Euless and was shot upon opening his rural Tarrant County store after he attended a morning mosque service, as was his daily routine.
Ali’s life of hard work was “wiped away in an instant,” said Bangs, who is prosecuting the case with Charles Boulware.
In the defense opening statement, Gary Smart said an accomplice in the robbery had much to gain by testifying against Turner, that the investigation was shoddy and that no fingerprint or DNA links Turner to the killing.
Before testimony began, Turner attempted to contact and threaten jurors, a sheriff’s office investigation found.
The case is one of two death penalty trials that are currently being held in Tarrant County. In the other case, Jason Thornburg is accused of killing and dismembering three people at a Euless motel in 2021.
This story includes information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.
