In the early morning hours of a Saturday in Northeast Washington, D.C., a life of hard work and dedication came to a tragic and violent end. Nazir Ahmad, a 68-year-old man, was working at a Valero gas station on Brentwood Road on November 3, 2018, when a man entered the 24-hour Food Mart with the intention of robbing the establishment.
Surveillance footage from that morning captured the harrowing moments.
The suspect, later identified as 32-year-old Demetrius Pierce, went behind the counter and grabbed the cash register. As he tried to leave, he discovered the front door was locked. Ahmad, who had been in an employee area at the back of the store, emerged and confronted Pierce. In a moment of sheer terror, Ahmad raised his hands and backed away, retreating to the employee room and shutting the door behind him. Pierce then fired his gun through the door, striking Ahmad. After shooting his way out of the locked front door, Pierce fled with the cash register. When police arrived, they found Ahmad in the locked employee room, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation that followed led authorities to a nearby McDonald's, where a trail of coins from the stolen register and a baseball cap were discovered. The cap contained DNA evidence that pointed to Demetrius Pierce. Pierce was arrested on November 27, 2018, and charged with second-degree murder while armed. At the time of the offense, Pierce was on supervised release for a prior burglary conviction.
In September 2021, Demetrius Pierce pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, possession of a prohibited weapon, and simple assault. As part of a plea agreement, he was expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of Nazir Ahmad, a man nearly twice his age who lost his life in a senseless act of violence while trying to earn a living.
