{"id":87254,"date":"2025-12-17T22:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/87254\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T22:18:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:18:09","slug":"port-st-lucie-fathers-killer-sentenced-to-life-after-unanimous-jury-verdict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/87254\/","title":{"rendered":"Port St. Lucie father\u2019s killer sentenced to life after unanimous jury verdict"},"content":{"rendered":"

LEE COUNTY, Fla (CBS12) \u2014 A unanimous jury has convicted a man of firstdegree murder and robbery with a firearm in the 2024 killing of a Port St. Lucie father at a Leesburg convenience store. <\/p>\n

The trial began earlier this week and concluded Wednesday after nearly three hours of deliberation, with Judge Brian Welke sentencing Alex Lopez<\/a>, 26, to life in prison without parole.<\/p>\n

\"SlainSlain shop owner, Raied ‘Ray’ Shihadeh, 51 is remembered as a devoted husband and father of five who worked hard to provide for his family. \u201cThere are moments when there\u2019s tears, somberness. It\u2019s been a struggle,\u201d Monique Shihadeh said. \u201cHe was just always my rock, always. We were a team, a great team.\u201d (Tarleshia Jerger)<\/p>\n

On May 30, 2024, Raied “Ray” Shihadeh was shot while on a FaceTime call with his wife during a robbery at the M & M Food Mart. Officers found him behind the counter with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and head. Surveillance footage showed a masked gunman brandishing a firearm, then taking less than $100 and a vape product before fleeing.<\/p>\n

According to prosecutors, a witness told police she entered the store and heard screaming from a cell phone, later determined to be Shihadeh\u2019s call with his wife. <\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/p>\n

Alex Lopez, the man accused of killing a store clerk during an armed robbery in Leesburg in 2024, was found guilty of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm on Wednesday. (Leesburg PD)<\/p>\n

Detectives released suspect photos in a public bulletin, and tips quickly identified Lopez. He was arrested on June 26, 2024, at a motel in Kissimmee.<\/p>\n

State Attorney Bill Gladson<\/a> called Lopez a \u201cruthless, wannabe thug\u201d who valued money over life. <\/p>\n

\"26\u2011year\u2011old<\/p>\n

26\u2011year\u2011old Alex Lopez (pictured right) was sentenced Wednesday, December 17, 2025, to life in prison without parole for the fatal shooting of Port St. Lucie father Raied Shihadeh (left) during a Leesburg convenience store robbery. (Family\/Leesburg PD)<\/p>\n

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘He took a good person:’ Port St. Lucie family of slain store owner pleads for justice<\/a><\/p>\n

Shihadeh\u2019s widow, Monique, delivered an emotional statement: \u201cWhen someone walked in, they changed the trajectory of our lives not only for myself but for my children. I promise you today\u2019s verdict was not a miscarriage of justice; it was the perfect carriage of justice.\u201d She added that while the pain remains, the verdict brings her family some relief after the \u201cgut-wrenching\u201d uncertainty of that night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LEE COUNTY, Fla (CBS12) \u2014 A unanimous jury has convicted a man of firstdegree murder and robbery with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-87254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}