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Suspect in store owner's murder charged in other robbery
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The suspect in the robbery and murder of a store owner on the South Side on Wednesday is facing an aggravated robbery charge in the robbery of another of the owner’s stores Nov. 18.
Larry McDonald, 19, was charged with the robbery of the Reemas Fashion store at 1760 Belmont Ave. on Nov. 18, the day before the owner of that store and another Reemas Fashion on South Avenue, Abdullah Nagi Mahdi, was killed in a robbery attempt at the South Avenue location.
McDonald is a suspect in Mahdi’s murder. Reports said he pulled a gun in the store and Mahdi also pulled a gun and the two exchanged shots. Onlookers tackled McDonald, who was wounded, after Mahdi was shot in the head.
Mahdi later died from his wounds.
In the Belmont Avenue case, detectives filed an aggravated robbery charge late Friday.
Detective Sgt. Mike Lambert, who is investigating both cases, said McDonald’s family helped identify McDonald from video footage taken from the Belmont Avenue robbery.
Lambert said McDonald had a hooded sweatshirt pulled up in that robbery and cinched tightly around his face but his family was still able to identify him.
McDonald has not yet been charged in Mahdi’s death, but he is expected to face charges later.
He has been recuperating at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital since he was wounded.
A police report from the Nov. 18 robbery said officers were called to the store about 7:25 p.m. that day.
Reports said officers were told by a clerk that a man was in the store looking to buy clothes.
The employee let the suspect behind a counter where a Glock .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun was on a shelf under the counter.
The gun belonged to the manager of the store, but that was a different person than Mahdi, reports said.
Reports said the suspect made several purchases and when they were being totaled, he pulled the Glock that had been under the shelf and pointed it at the employee.
Reports said the suspect took both the clothes and the gun and ran out the door.