Homicide charges filed against man in Craig’s Food Mart murder

THE District Attorney of Luzerne County has filed criminal charges against a man inconnection with Craig’s Food Mart murder case.

Jafet Rodriguez has been charged for the murder of Ashokkumar Patel, which occurred on December 12 last year.

In addition to an open-count of criminal homicide, Rodriguez is also charged with one count each of robbery, burglary, and theft.

Rodriguez is also charged in a separate criminal complaint with multiple counts of felony possession with intent to deliver heroin.

Rodriguez has been lodged in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility-with no bail-since his arrest on the drug charges on December 19.

Patel was working as a clerk at Craig’s Food Mart, located off of Broad Street, in Hazleton. On the day when the incident occurred, he was mopping the floor when Rodriguez entered the store.

Rodriguez walked into the store carrying a hand gun in his right hand. Immediately upon entering, the accused cycled the action of the handgun pointing it towards Patel. He then shoved Patel into a closet and fired a single gunshot to Patel’s head and neck area causing Patel to collapse to the ground.

Rodriguez then rushed to an area behind the counter, opened a cupboard, and grabbed loose cash and a bank deposit bag before leaving the store. Investigators later determined that Rodriguez stole more than $14,000.

Patel did not die instantly. He crawled from the closet to the counter smearing blood on the floor along the way. He found his cellphone and dialed 911 for help; however, due to his gunshot injuries he could not tell 911 who he was, where he was, or that he had been shot. Patel collapsed, bled out, and died on the floor.

‘All murders are senseless acts of violence but in all of my years as District Attorney, the murder of Ashokkumar Patel struck a chord with myself, my staff, the police, and the community like few others have,’ said District Attorney Stefanie J Salavantis.

‘On the night he was killed, Mr. Patel did not even have time to resist or call for help before he was shot and left for dead. In his last few moments, he fought for his life the only way he could-crawling for his cell phone and dialing 911 which was ultimately a futile effort.’