Antwan Anthony was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for three murders that were committed during a robbery
According to court documents Antwan Anthony would rob the Farmville Hustle Mart and in the process would shoot and kill 16-year-old Mokbel “Sam” Mohamed Almujanahi, 24-year-old Gaber Alawi, and 26-year-old Nabil Nasser Saeed Al’mogannahi
Antwan Anthony was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Antwan Anthony Photos
Antwan Anthony FAQ
Where Is Antwan Anthony Now
Antwan Anthony is incarcerated at Central Prison in North Carolina
Antwan Anthony Case
The jury in the Hustle Mart-3 triple homicide case begins its deliberations this afternoon to determine whether the triggerman is guilty of first-degree or second-degree murder.
Antwan Andre Anthony, 33, is on trial in Pitt County Criminal Superior Court for the April 1, 2012, deaths of 16-year-old Mokbel “Sam” Mohamed Almujanahi, 26-year-old Nabil Nasser Saeed Al’mogannahi and 24-year-old Gaber Alawi at their family’s convenience store.
During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Clark Everett asked the jurors to find Anthony guilty of first-degree murder based on premeditation and deliberation and also felony murder for killing the three during the commission of a felony, which was the armed robbery.
Defense attorney Philip Lane, however, told the jurors that Anthony was severely mentally ill on the night of the killings and did not have the specific intent to kill. He asked the jurors to find Anthony guilty of second-degree murder.
Lane gave his closing argument first and reviewed the records of Anthony’s mental health history, which began at age 4 in kindergarten. Anthony was unable to control his behavior, was aggressive and angry and was sent to a specialized classroom, Lane said. It was recommended then Anthony see a psychologist and psychiatrist.
“Antwan Anthony is severely mentally ill,” Lane said. “He was severely mentally ill when he was 4 years old, and he is severely mentally ill now, and he was severely mentally ill on April 1, 2012.”
Over the years, throughout many visits and hospital stays, psychologists and psychiatrists diagnosed Anthony with post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder, among others, Lane said.
When Anthony was prescribed medications for those diseases, he was better able to control his behavior, Lane said, but when he went off the medications, his behavior turned impulsive and dangerous.
Although Anthony’s mother initially agreed to work with him, take him to therapy and give him his medications, she never followed through, Lane said. When he was home, she did not make him take his medications, and his behavior immediately began to deteriorate.
Anthony knew he did better in a special or a residential school and even told authorities he did not want to go home, Lane said.
Anthony eventually was convicted of assaults and sentenced to prison time. After 10 years in the Connecticut Department of Corrections, he was released to the custody of his mother in January 2012, Lane said.
“They drove to North Carolina without any medication, without any further instruction than to see your probation officer when you get to North Carolina,” Lane said. Upon arrival, Anthony went to a probation officer and saw a social worker, but neither man knew about his history of mental illness and the need for him to be on medication.
“He’s an adult, but he has the same problem at 28 that he had as a child,” Lane said. “He’s severely mentally ill.”
After the killings, Anthony told psychologists he was having flashbacks to his time at Northern Correctional, a supermax prison. He also told them his bones were on fire, he was like a robot and that he just snapped, Lane said.
Anthony may have been mentally ill, Everett told the jury in his closing argument for the state, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t know what he was doing when he shot the three young men.
The prosecutor first addressed the robbery with a dangerous weapon charge against Anthony. Everett pointed out that even one of the psychologists who testified for the defense said Anthony formed the intent to commit the armed robbery.
“He’s guilty here,” Everett said. “There’s no reasonable doubt.”
Everett then asked the jury to consider the felony murder charge. Intent to kill is not one of the requirements to find someone guilty of felony murder.
“Felony murder is simple,” Everett said. “If you engage in a felony and during that felony someone dies, you kill somebody, you’re guilty of first-degree murder, period.”
He told the jurors that when they deliberate, they can find Anthony guilty of first-degree murder either through the felony murder rule and/or by premeditation and deliberation. Intent to kill is one of the elements of first-degree murder by premeditation and deliberation.
Consider Anthony’s behavior that night, Everett said. Anthony helped plan the robbery of a drug dealer and when that fell through, he helped plan another robbery. And when he saw the Hustle Mart, he declared it the perfect place to rob, Everett said.
Everett referred to the testimony of psychologist Jennifer Sapia, a witness called by the defense.
Psychologist Jennifer Sapia said what Anthony did when he was in kindergarten was relevant to what happened at the Hustle Mart, Everett said. But Sapia said killing two people in Princeville during a robbery three weeks earlier wasn’t relevant, nor were the phone calls he made from jail urging his mother to get him out before he was charged with the murders, he said.
“What he did in the first grade was relevant,” Everett said. “But what happened three weeks earlier in Princeville wasn’t relevant?”
On Monday, the state played telephone calls Anthony placed from jail so the jury could hear how he sounds while stressed, Everett said.
“He knew the next day they were coming with three first-degree murder charges,” he said.
“It showed the same Antwan Anthony we’ve seen all the way through,” Everett said. “It shows one thing. He cares about one thing: Antwan Anthony.”
Everett asked the jury to consider other stressful situations Anthony experienced after arrival in North Carolina.
When sheriff’’s deputies came to pick him up on weapon’s charges on April 3, 2012, he put the gun down and came out, saying he put it down so he would not be shot, Everett said.
That was a stressful situation, but he didn’t shoot anyone, and he didn’t go into another state of mind and think he was at Northern Correctional, Everett said.
Everett showed the jurors a photograph just as Anthony was about to shoot the 16-year-old boy as he was on his knees behind the counter. His cousin also was on his knees.
“Look at that picture and tell me he’s in another level of awareness,” Everett said. “He’s doing an execution, and Nabil is watching. If that picture doesn’t haunt you, something is wrong with you.”
Upon conclusion of closing arguments, the judge gave the jurors instructions on the law and sent them to lunch. They are to begin deliberating shortly after their return at 2:20 p.m
After about an hour of deliberation, a jury has found the triggerman in the Hustle Mart-3 triple homicide guilty of murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Antwan Andre Anthony, 33, is guilty of felony murder and first-degree murder on the basis of malice, premeditation and deliberation in each of the April 1, 2012, deaths of 16-year-old Mokbel “Sam” Mohamed Almujanahi, 26-year-old Nabil Nasser Saeed Al’mogannahi and 24-year-old Gaber Alawi.
The jury also found him guilty of robbery with a dangerous weapon.
The sentencing phase is expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.