Final act saved wife’s life during S.A. mall robbery
SAN ANTONIO — It took a while for strangers to get to know Jonathan Murphy, a large, quiet man who communicated with a few words and small gestures.
But in the final moments of his life, Murphy proved that even a simple, deliberate step to his wife’s left side — a small movement — could mean more than anything else ever had for Aimee Murphy. He saved her life. “I wasn’t surprised he tried to help somebody, but it sure did surprise me that some idiot would kill him for it,” said Robert Murphy, his father.
Aimee and Jonathan Murphy went to Kay Jewelers on that bright Sunday afternoon looking for batteries for Jonathan’s watch and to get their wedding rings cleaned. She leaned over the case, skimming the items beyond the glass, just after 3 p.m.
Then came the sound of smashing glass. She saw two men, one in a mask, inside the store. One pulled out a gun. People yelled and screamed. Aimee Murphy froze, panic in the air around her. In a second, her husband moved to her left side.
“He didn’t say anything; he just moved to my other side,” Aimee Murphy said, between sobs on Monday. “The next thing I know, he was falling to the ground.”
Two men in custody
And now she wonders: How could a man who had brought her so much life die?
A day after the 42-yearold was shot and killed in the botched robbery, the two men accused of robbing the Kay Jewelers inside Rolling Oaks Mall on Sunday were in custody, one fighting for his own life in a local hospital, San Antonio police said.
Two other people were shot during the melee, suffering non-life-threatening wounds. One man also was hospitalized for chest pains because of the incident, and a pregnant woman was treated at the scene.
Detectives are investigating whether there were any other people involved.
Officer Douglas Greene, an SAPD spokesman, said the first suspect was critically wounded after he was shot by a bystander at the scene before police arrived just after 3:25 p.m. EMS took him to San Antonio Military Medical Center, where he was reportedly still in critical condition Monday. Police confirmed he would be booked by proxy and charged with one count of capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
Greene said the individual, whose name had not been released Monday, was likely Murphy’s killer, and that it appeared both individuals fired their weapons at some point.
Consumed with grief
Meanwhile Jason Matthew Prieto, 35, ran from the mall and crashed a stolen silver vehicle into a stop sign minutes later, Greene said. Prieto ran away from the crash but was later apprehended by Converse police.
After being interrogated by multiple detectives, Prieto was booked early Monday on a count of capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault, Greene said.
The impact of the violent incident continues to shock Murphy’s family. Aimee Murphy sobbed uncontrollably Monday, consumed with grief while frantically trying to plan his funeral — a date that has yet to be set.
“I love him and I admire him for what he did, but I also hate him for what he did, too,” Aimee Murphy said Monday.
Questions on how she will deal with his loss filled her mind.
After more than nine years of marriage and memories, who will she cuddle with on the sofa while she watches “NCIS”? Will she keep Jonathan’s Harley Davidson motorcycle? Will she hold on to his prized watch collection?
“When he would joke, he would tell me I was the female version of him, and I’d say he was the male version of me, because we were just so in sync,” she recalled.