ST. LOUIS — Jury selection begins Monday morning in the murder trial of Antonio Muldrew.
Muldrew is charged with first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, assault and robbery in the July 2014 killing of Abdulrauf Kadir.
The fatal shooting happened at a convenience store at Chippewa and Louisiana in the Dutchtown neighborhood.
Kadir was a clerk at the store.
He had only lived in St. Louis for about eight months. Kadir was a refugee from Ethiopia who came to St. Louis to escape persecution.
"He didn't know what was really going on around here. He just came to work and support his family," Brandon Baker told 5 On Your Side in the days after his friend was killed.
The International Institute was helping Kadir get his wife and two kids to the U.S. at the time of his death. An official with the organization told 5 On Your Side in 2014 that refugees go through safety training when they arrive, but that there’s no way to protect against senseless killings.
"Working at a store on a Sunday afternoon at 3:15 p.m. should have been a lot safer than this case it turned out to be," Anna Crosslin said in 2014 interview.
Kadir was working two jobs at the time of his death: one to support him in the U.S. and one to send money back to his family in Ethiopia.
"He had spent years in fact trying to survive over there and he finally gets to the United States and sadly eight months later he's dead," Crosslin said.
Muldrew’s trial is expected to begin after jury selection ends.
5 On Your Side’s Sara Machi will be in court following the developments. You can see the latest developments by following Sara's tweets here and by downloading the free 5 On Your Side app using the links below.
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