LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A jury on Wednesday found a man guilty of murder in the fatal shooting of a Leesburg store clerk during a robbery last year.
Alex Lopez was arrested in the shooting death of Raied Shihadeh, 51, who was killed May 29, 2024, at the Fast Stop Superette on Picciola Road, east of U.S. Highway 441.
Jurors unanimously found Lopez guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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Shihadeh’s widow broke down several times on the stand Tuesday as she testified about talking to him on FaceTime when he was shot.
“We were on a call, and all of a sudden he dropped the phone, and I heard him scream, no, no. I kept calling for him,” she said.
Detectives and a DNA specialist also took the stand.
While the state maintained Lopez shot the clerk as part of a robbery, the defense argued his wife did not see Lopez pull the trigger.
Lopez was on the run for weeks before he was captured by police on June 26, 2024, near Kissimmee.
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After Lopez’s arrest, Leesburg police announced a couple months later that his mother and sister were arrested and accused of hiding Lopez from law enforcement.
His girlfriend, Kaili E. Dupuis, turned herself in days after Lopez’s mother and sister were arrested. She faced similar charges.
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