Two teens from Kentucky are behind bars and charged with shooting and killing Vishal Patel, a gas station clerk at Kwik Sak on Lebanon Pike in Nashville.
"There’s no reason for this to happen to anybody. I just don’t get it," Patel's friend Jennifer O’Connell said.
Community members said Patel was well-loved and treated all his customers with kindness. O’Connell fought back tears for Patel.
She described him as one of the nicest people she’s met. She saw his generosity in action when he would come across the street to her job.
"If he was ever in our lobby and somebody was short on cash, he would give it them. He would give you the shirt off his back if you asked him," O’Connell said.
The suspects in the case are two 15-year-olds from Kentucky.
Many community members can’t wrap their heads around the crime. Many of Patel's customers dropped by his store on Tuesday to leave flowers.
Surveillance footage released to NewsChannel 5 has them asking more questions.
In the video, two people walk in and Patel walks over to greet them.
As the video proceeds, the suspects walked back around the counter and then police say, Shawn Davis, 15, pulled out a gun.
In the video that aired on television, NewsChannel 5 chose not to show the gun going off. The video does end with Davis firing multiple rounds, his alleged accomplice Demarcus Boyd, 15, taking off and Patel falling to the ground.
The two were taken into custody a few hours later after police located the stolen vehicle they were in.
Authorities charged both teens with murder.
“I think something has to change. Something has to change, and it has to start at the bottom and work its way up," O’Connell said.
Davis and Boyd are also charged with aggravated robbery from an incident Sunday at a 7-Eleven gas station on Old Hickory Boulevard, where two suspects entered the store, took all the cash from the register at gunpoint and left on foot.
Both teenagers admitted to their involvement during an interview with detectives, according to police.
Community members are hosting a vigil for Patel on Wednesday evening.
If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe set up for the Patel family, click here.
