On the evening of February 8, 2018, Sukhjinder Singh, a male gas station owner, was shot and killed inside his Citgo store in Jackson, Mississippi. The incident began when a man, later identified as Hector Almedares Alvarado, entered the gas station. Following a verbal exchange, Singh retrieved his own gun from behind the counter.
Alvarado followed Singh behind the counter and, in the ensuing moments, a struggle for the weapon occurred.
Alvarado managed to take Singh's gun from him and shot him with it. During the incident, Alvarado also exchanged gunfire with a Citgo employee, Jeremy Woods. The entire event was captured on the store's video surveillance cameras from multiple angles.
Initially, Alvarado provided investigators with several conflicting stories. He claimed that Singh was already shot when he entered, then that he took the gun to defend himself from another attacker, and also that he shot Singh because he was nervous and didn't know what he was doing. However, when confronted with the video evidence that contradicted his statements, Alvarado admitted to taking Singh's gun and shooting him.
Hector Almedares Alvarado was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the death of Sukhjinder Singh and attempted first-degree murder for the shooting of Jeremy Woods. He was subsequently convicted by a Hinds County Circuit Court jury on both counts. For the murder of Singh, Alvarado was sentenced to life in prison. He received a concurrent sentence of twenty years for the attempted murder of Woods. His appeal of the conviction was denied, with the court affirming the jury's verdict.
