Clerk shot to death

Heather Rawlyk

Friday, June 25, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.

The only thing that Layla Hana knew when she arrived at the Kwiky Mini Mart on Tropicana Avenue late Thursday afternoon was that the convenience store where her nephew works had been robbed earlier that day.

The woman jogged steps ahead of several friends and family members and crossed the crime tape strung along the sidewalk, only to be stopped by an officer who broke the news that the store's clerk had been killed.

Hana fell to her knees, slapped her hands on the pavement and screamed.

A deliveryman had discovered the body of 32-year-old Basar "Robert" Youana behind the counter of the Kwiky Mini Mart, located in the 1900 block of East Tropicana Avenue near Spencer Street, around 12:45 p.m., according to Metro Homicide Lt. Tom Monahan.

Police said they believed the store had been robbed, and Youana was shot during the robbery.

Almost a dozen friends and family members gathered around Hana, wiping tears from their eyes and shaking their heads in disbelief.

The man's uncle, Sabah Marogi, retrieved a stack of pictures from a car and pointed out a handful of snapshots that featured a smiling Youana, enjoying a hike with his family.

"He (Youana) just passed the test for citizenship here (in the United States)," Marogi said. "He was waiting for the swearing-in and didn't have much longer. He was waiting for that and then this happens."

Marogi said his nephew, who was from Iraq, had "escaped Saddam Hussein" and came to the United States to join his aunts, uncles and cousins in Las Vegas.

Youana's immediate family is still in his home country, and "Robert (Youana) was getting ready visit them right after he got sworn in," Marogi said.

Aurea and Ramiro Ruiz, who own the Water To Go store two doors down from the Kwiky Mart, described Youana as a "nice man" who always smiled and said hello.

The couple said they didn't hear any gunshots coming from next door and found out about the murder when police and news vans arrived in the shopping center.

"With the water machines going, we can't hear anything," Aurea Ruiz said.

Ramiro Ruiz said he was sad to hear about Youana's death, but is not surprised that someone would rob the Kwiky Mart.

"The store gets robbed about every 8 months," he said.

The manager of a nearby business, who identified herself as Lori, said she knew Youana from her daily visits to the convenience store.

Lori said she had left her desk at 12:40 p.m. to walk down to the Kwiky Mart when a customer entered her business.

"I was on my way down there and a customer came in," she said. "It scares me to know if that customer hadn't come in, I would have been the one to find him."