2 Suspects Arrested in Memphis in Execution of Kenner Gas Station Worker

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KENNER, La. — Authorities say two people are in custody following an armed robbery and fatal shooting of a Kenner gas station clerk who was on his knees after he had handed over the money from the cash register.

WATN reports that the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Lamonte Loggins and Eric Rodgers on Tuesday in Memphis in connection with the shooting death of 30-year-old Abdel Ghader Sylla in Kenner on Nov. 30. Loggins was booked on first-degree murder charges and Rodgers was booked on second-degree murder and armed robbery.

Loggins and Rodgers are now awaiting extradition to Louisiana.

Kenner police say Sylla was minding the store on Nov. 30 when two men came in, got him to hand over $100 in cash, and had him on his knees. One man was keeping an eye at the door. The other brandished the gun, but instead of just leaving with the cash they had come in to get, he fired his gun and struck Sylla.

Sylla was able to call for help and was taken to the hospital, but he did not survive. He was survived by a wife, 1-year-old child and another child on the way. His grieving widow said her husband was originally from Mauritania in Northern Africa. She met him soon after he moved to the New Orleans area about 4-and-a-half years ago.

“He was the nicest man,” she said. “Everybody who knew him thought that. He loved his family. He would do anything for anybody.”

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