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Family, friends and frequent visitors to a Garland convenience store gathered for a vigil to remember the gas station clerk killed in a weekend robbery.
Police arrested 19-year-old Chavez Nash and 23-year-old Darrell Nash on Tuesday for the murder of Manish Panday. He was killed Sunday night during an armed robbery at the Exxon gas station on the corner of Broadway Boulevard and East Oates Road.
Customers stopped by the store Wednesday to offer their condolences. It was the first full day the store has reopened for business.
“Personally I don't want to come to this store. Even his familiars don't want to come to this store,” said MD Jahangir, Panday’s coworker. “I’m thinking if I don't come here, we going to lose all the business.”
Garland police say they received tips after releasing store surveillance video that led to the arrest of the two cousins in Dallas. Both Chavez and Darrell are charged with capital murder.
Arrest affidavits show Darrell is the one who shot Panday after a struggle and was wounded in the process. Police records show that he went to Baylor Hospital shortly after the shooting with a leg wound. When questioned by police, he claimed "he was shot in a drive-by shooting about 12:15 a.m."
Investigators believe the suspects committed at least four other armed robberies in the city over the past month, including one just 30 minutes before Panday's murder.
In the latest case, police believe the cousins had help from a third suspect.
“It’s possible this third suspect was a getaway driver or possibly responsible for holding on to the weapon after this crime occurred,” explained Garland Police Lt. Pedro Barineau.
A store clerk from a beer store, who didn’t want his face shown, says he was also robbed by Chavez and Darrell Nash just 24 hours before Panday was killed.
“They are so dangerous. They don't have any humanity. They don't have any feelings inside them,” the store clerk said. “They were just taking the money. And they were still saying, ‘Kill him.’ The second one. I was a little stressed and fearful like ‘Is today is the day I’m going to die?’”
Surveillance video from the beer store shows two men, wearing similar clothing as the Dallas cousins. One of them pointed a gun at the clerk. They took cash out of the register and stuffed it into a backpack. The also stole the store clerk’s keys and his phone before leaving him unharmed.
“I think that I got a new life, and I’m lucky,” the store clerk said. “But I'm really sad Manish, who was going to be a father, just passed away.”
Balch Springs detectives believe the cousins have also committed armed robberies in their community.
The new revelations come as the murder victim's pregnant wife struggles to cope with Panday's violent death.
A public records search did not yield any prior criminal cases for Chavez. However, Darrell has previous arrests for burglary and drug charges.
Anyone with information on that third suspect is urged to contact Garland PD.