Former clerk pleads guilty in convenience store killing

A former store clerk who shot and killed a man who tried to steal beer from a Las Vegas convenience store pleaded guilty Friday.

Suse Antunez-Garcia, who originally faced a murder charge, accepted a deal with prosecutors on one count of voluntary manslaughter with use of deadly weapon in connection with the death of 56-year-old Robert Cook.

The now 27-year-old former clerk remains free on $10,000 bail until a sentencing hearing in February, when she faces two to 20 years behind bars.

In March 2019, Cook and a woman took off with at least three cases of beer from the Stateside Express convenience store at 950 Las Vegas Blvd. North, police and court records indicate.

Antunez-Garcia and the store manager followed the pair outside to a vehicle, where another man was waiting with a car.

The woman was able to get into the vehicle, but the manager pulled Cook out of the car as he tried to escape, leading to a “very brief” struggle, police said.

Cook broke free from the manager’s grip, and as he was getting back into the car, Antunez-Garcia fired two rounds into the car, striking him twice in the lower abdomen and leg, police said.

Prosecutors decided at the time to pursue charges against Antunez-Garcia because they said authorities found no evidence that the victim posed a threat or had been carrying a weapon.

Prosecutors have pursued criminal charges in similar cases in the past.

In 2015, a former 7-Eleven clerk was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for shooting a would-be beer thief as he ran from the store.

In February 2018, a Las Vegas smoke shop clerk was sentenced to probation for shooting and killing a 13-year-old boy who had rushed into the store wearing a mask and hoodie.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.