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Surveillance Video Shows Attempted Car Theft After Clerk Murder

Posted at 9:05 PM, May 04, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-04 22:07:52-04

Newly obtained surveillance video showed the moments after a gas station clerk in West Nashville was shot and killed inside his store. 

28-year-old Daniel Clark and 15-year-old Trinity Quinn have been charged with homicide for the death of 58-year-old John Daniel Stevens. 

The two entered the store and Quinn began shopping around while Clark approached the counter with a gun, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department.

Clark allegedly shot Stevens multiple times and stole car keys from his pocket.

The surveillance video captured Quinn and Clark approach a vehicle parked on the side of the store. Both are seen trying to open the doors.

Clark then dropped what appeared to be the bag police found when they arrested the pair on Wednesday. On the video, you can see Clark trying to break the window but then appeared to shoot it before Quinn got in the passenger seat. 

Moments seen on surveillance video matched what Metro Nashville Police Spokesperson Don Aaron initially told NewsChannel 5 happened. 

They were not able to get away because the keys did not match the vehicle. Both were captured fleeing into the bushes behind the gas station before they were caught a mile away near Old Hickory Boulevard the following morning. 

"They knew what they were doing. They went in with a motive," a nearby business owner said.

Investigators said Quinn had "opportunity at the market to flee" and did not appear to be held against her will. 

In the meantime, several have left flowers outside the gas station to pay their respects. Several customers described Stevens as a soft-spoken and gentle individual.

"It warms my hear that people are remembering him. He may have been a clerk but he was more than that," Antoinette Licalsi, a business owner, said. "We are a small and tight knit community and I think showing the flowers show that you do matter."

A Celebration of Life service will be held at noon at the West Harpeth Funeral Home on Charlotte Pike. Visitation will start at 10 a.m. 

Stevens, a Navy veteran, will be buried at the Middle Tennessee Veterans Cemetery on McCrory Lane.