A father was shot dead in front of his son after reportedly getting into an argument with a stranger inside a pharmacy.
Anthony Souvenir was inside a Walgreens store with his one-year-old son and girlfriend when he allegedly had a heated encounter with a stranger, Jamie Taylor, at around 11.20am on February 3.
The 27-year-old reportedly accused Taylor of staring at his significant other, who told the authorities he had been putting money on his Cash App when Souvenir and his family entered the Miramar, Florida, store.
Anthony was in the drug store when he allegedly had an argument with another shopper (GoFundMe)
According to CBS News, Taylor said he was accused of ‘looking too hard’ at the woman and then claimed he walked away and spoke to someone else on the phone.
During questioning with police, Souvenir apparently overheard the phone conversation but thought Taylor was making a comment towards him.
“I’m not even (expletive) talking to you, I’m on the (expletive) phone,” Souvenir’s girlfriend said she heard Taylor say.
The misunderstanding escalated when Souvenir noticed Taylor had a gun and apparently said: “I see you got one; I got one too.”
Taylor told police officers he was concerned the argument was going to break out into physical violence and pulled out his gun.
Anthony was allegedly shot dead in front of his son (Anthony F Souvenir / Facebook)
When he saw the father reach into his backpack, allegedly to get his own gun, Taylor fired his weapon and fled the scene.
Panic took over the Walgreens as witnesses made desperate calls to 911.
Souvenir’s girlfriend told the dispatcher: “Hello, my boyfriend got shot in Walgreens,” before saying it was ‘some random guy’ that ‘ran off’.
Other shoppers also said they were afraid the shooter was going to come back.
Souvenir was on the floor in the store when he was gunned down but was pronounced dead when he was at a nearby hospital.
After the shooting, Taylor fled the scene but then turned himself into Miramar police.
A fundraising page set up by Souvenir’s mom says the victim was ‘ver3y[sic] respectful and loving’.
A fundraiser says the man was a ‘loving’ father (Anthony F Souvenir / Facebook)
The GoFundMe adds: “His best quality was his big heart. He was thoughtful, alway putting other first. He was an amazing father. He loved his son and had big dreams for him.”
The fundraiser also reveals the family had already endured a tough time after his mom, Linda Souvenir, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year.
“As you can imagine this diagnose had been such a financial strain for me and my family,” the fundraiser continued. “Now to hit with another devastated blow while still trying to recover emotionally, physically mentally and financially. Losing my son had made this recovery process difficult.
“Also he was an amazing support to his loving family. It breaks my heart that he will never get a chance to see his son become the great man that he wanted him to be.”
Taylor was then arrested and charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bail at Broward County Jail, according to The New York Post.
He appeared before court where he was appointed a public defender and indicated he plans to challenge the charges against him.
Warning: This article contains discussion of violence and suicide which some readers may find distressing.
The brother of a 34-year-old man who was killed by his wife in a murder-suicide has shared his thoughts on why the 27-year-old woman pulled the trigger.
Pajtim Krasniqi and his wife, Sabrina, were identified by police on November 29 after they both died at a luxury high-rise building in Hallandale Beach, Florida.
Officers responded to the scene at around 12:30am on Wednesday after they were alerted to multiple shots being fired.
One neighbor, who lived across the street from the couple, told NBC6: “We heard screaming and it was scary. I hear the shooting and then after a few minutes the police cars and it was a crowded scene.”
Following an investigation, police determined that Sabrina fatally shot Pajtim multiple times before she turned the gun on herself and took her own life.
Now, Pajtim’s brother, Arben “Benny” Krasniqi, has speculated about why Sabrina may have killed her husband, telling The New York Post he and his family ‘saw plenty of signs’ that something wasn’t right between the couple.
“Now everything makes sense,” he said. “But they were in love, and never in a million years did we think something like this could happen.”
Arben claimed there was infidelity in the marriage and the Pajtim ‘wanted a divorce’.
Pajtim was just 34 when he was killed (WPLG Local 10)
“She didn’t take that lightly,” Arben claimed. “And she decided to take her own life and, somewhere along the line, she decided to take my brother’s life.”
Police have not commented on a motive for the shooting.
Arben said his family is now ‘just trying to cope’ with the loss of Pajtim, who he described as a ‘genius’.
“My mother’s devastated. We’ve lost someone who is so genuine, who is so loving, who is so intelligent and hard-working and just irreplaceable — and it has left the entire family devastated.”
Pajtim’s family have said they are ‘devastated’ at the loss (WPLG Local 10)
“My brother was full of life. He was full of ambition. He was full of love. And that’s all been taken away from us by a selfish act of one person. One more selfish act from [Sabrina], and [she took] my brother along with her,” Arben continued.
Pajtim’s sister, Albana Krasniqi Munrett, told NBC6 that the 34-year-old was one of five siblings, and a loving uncle to nieces and nephews.
“It brings great joy to remember him smiling, laughing and playing with the children,” she said. “He was always the first to want to take them for ice cream, treat them to a movie or simply play around the house.”
“He had a love of life that few could ever hope to replicate,” she added.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
Warning: This article contains discussion of racial discrimination and contains graphic images and video which some readers may find distressing.
Sonya Massey’s dad has spoken out about why the body-camera footage is so important, given what he was initially told had happened.
Sonya Massey, 36, was shot dead by a police officer after calling authorities to her house for help, in fear of a suspected intruder.
The horrific footage was shared to YouTube by Illinois State Police and Sonya’s father has since spoken out about it being the ‘most horrible heart-wrenching thing that we’ve ever seen’, while calling for some sort of justice for his daughter.
On July 7, Sonya – a Black woman – called police to her home in Springfield, Illinois because she was worried someone was lurking around her house and potentially breaking in.
Deputy Sean Grayson of the Sangamon Country Sheriff’s Office and another officer – both white – showed up at her property, reassuring Sonya they were ‘not going to hurt’ her.
As Sonya went to take a boiling pot of water off the stove, Grayson threatened to shoot her in her ‘f**king face’.
Despite Sonya apologising and beginning to drop to her knees, three shots were fired at Sonya – a mom-of-two – who was shot in the head and killed.
Body-camera footage was released online showing exactly what happened that night and Sonya’s father, James Wilburn, has since opened up about why he’s grateful it was publicly released, despite being ‘heart-wrenching’ to watch, and why ‘without it’ he believes the truth of what happened may never have been revealed.
Sonya Massey was killed by police after calling 911 for their help as she thought there was an intruder on the premises. (GoFundMe)
Wilburn told CBS Mornings: “She was one of my four daughters, I don’t think that looking at that tape with my whole heart before 2022, I had quadruple heart bypass surgery and I suffer from congestive heart failure, but I don’t think my whole heart could’ve taken this.”
The father claims he was ‘never told it was a deputy involved in the shooting’, initially being led to believe Sonya had been ‘killed by the intruder or some person from the street’, and the police ‘just went in there and found here dead body’.
He continued: “I did not find out the deputy killed her until my brother asked for Sonya’s address and I gave it to him and he said, ‘Brother this says deputy’s involved.’
“[…] We were all misled to believe that – and then there was a story that was a self-inflicted gunshot. So I think the cover-up started from just right after it happened and thank God for the body-camera footage.”
The father resolved: “It’s probably one of the most horrible and heart-wrenching that we’ve ever seen in our lives, but if it were not for the body-cam footage, we would not have known that this occurred.”
Sonya Massey’s father, James Wilburn, has addressed the body-camera footage. (CBS Mornings)
James believes Sonya told the deputy she’d ‘rebuke [him] in the name of Jesus’ because she ‘feared for her life’.
“There was something, some premonition that she had, and it seems like he was just an emissary of Satan and that’s what caused him to do what he did. It’s just unexplainable,” he said.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump – who is representing the Massey family and represented George Floyd’s family – added: “In 2024, I believe it’s going to be the Sonya Massey shooting video that galvanizes people in our community to act, because as Mr. James said, this so-called police officer should have never been on the sheriff’s force. He had two DUIs and he had went from multiple police departments … and that is a question, why was he even on the force?”
Former deputy Grayson has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
A GoFundMe page has since been set up for in Sonya’s honor to help provide her family with financial support as they ‘work to pursue justice’.
