In the afternoon sun of a late autumn day in Phoenix, Arizona, a life was abruptly and violently cut short. On October 21, 2017, Mikail Khachaturov, a 56-year-old White male, was working at a gold-buying business on East Dunlap Avenue. At approximately 1:30 p.m., a single gunshot shattered the quiet of the store, and Khachaturov was fatally wounded.
The incident was a robbery, a crime that not only stole a life but also a mere $900.
The man who fled the scene was captured on surveillance video, a fleeting image of the person responsible for this tragedy. He was described as a Black male, distinctively dressed in a tan jumpsuit, a beanie, and glasses, carrying a black-and-white backpack. This description, along with the video footage, became the central focus of the Phoenix Police Department's investigation as they began the hunt for Khachaturov's killer.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the jewelry community mourned the loss of one of their own. Khachaturov's death was the fifth murder of someone in the jewelry industry that year, a grim statistic that highlighted the dangers faced by those in the profession. In an effort to bring the person responsible to justice, the Jewelers' Security Alliance offered a $2,500 reward for any information that would lead to an arrest. Despite the available surveillance footage and the offer of a reward, the suspect has not been publicly identified and no arrests have been announced in connection with the murder of Mikail Khachaturov. The case remains a painful and unresolved chapter for his family and the community.
