Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis speaks Tuesday afternoon about charges filed against the suspect in the slaying of a Hazleton convenience store clerk last month.
                                 Marcella Kester | For Times Leader

Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis speaks Tuesday afternoon about charges filed against the suspect in the slaying of a Hazleton convenience store clerk last month.

Marcella Kester | For Times Leader

Jafet Rodriguez, 40, charged in connection with slaying of Ashokkumar Patel

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HAZLETON — Criminal charges were filed by the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office Tuesday against the suspect in the slaying of a Hazleton convenience store clerk last month.

District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis made the announcement of the intent to press charges against Jafet Rodriguez, 40, of Hazleton in connection with the shooting death of Ashokkumar Patel inside Craig’s Food Mart.

Patel, 50, of Hazleton, was working at the West Broad Street store when Rodriguez entered, carrying a handgun, shortly after 9 p.m. on Dec. 12, Salavantis and investigators said.

According to Salavantis, investigation and surveillance images revealed:

Rodriguez was wearing a red Nike sweatshirt, black gloves and black face mask with a toothy grin printed on it. His hood was pulled up over his head.

“He walked into the store armed and ready, carrying a handgun in his right hand,” Salavantis said.

Rodriguez immediately took Patel, who was mopping the floor, and shoved him in a closet before firing a single gunshot into the area of his head and neck. Patel collapsed to the ground.

Rodriguez then allegedly went behind the counter and began grabbing loose handfuls of cash and a bank deposit bag. Investigators say he got away with more than $14,000.

Patel did not die instantly, the DA’s office said. Instead, he crawled to the counter, calling 911. He was unable to to tell 911 any information, due to his injuries. He bled out and died on the floor.

Rodriguez was charged with an open-count of criminal homicide, along with a single count each of robbery, burglary and theft. He has been lodged without bail at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility since Dec. 19 for a separate case involving multiple counts of felony drug charges, Assistant District Attorney Drew McLaughlin added.

He will be arraigned via video this morning.

Frequent customer

Salavantis said Rodriguez often frequented Craig’s Food Mart and regularly played poker machines inside the store. She alleged that he likely knew the area where money was kept and that Patel would recognize him.

“This is not a case of a robbery gone bad,” Salavantis said. “Rodriguez murdered Patel in cold blood. Given the steps he took to conceal his identity, Rodriguez walked into the store intending not to leave a witness behind.”

Following a request for assistance from the public after the incident, investigators from several agencies went to work following leads and looking over video surveillance for a suspect who wore a red or orange Nike hoodie, black gloves and a black mask with white teeth printed on it.

They were able to extract GPA data from Rodriguez’s cell phone showing that he was at the store around the time of the murder. He then traveled back to his house, and left with a trash bag before going to an auto detailing shop he owned at 410 Diamond Ave., Salavantis said.

A search warrant was executed on Jan. 8, at which time police discovered clothing matching what the suspect wore at the store.

During interviews with investigators, Salavantis said Rodriguez admitted to being at Craig’s Food Mart the night of the murder, but claimed he left the store prior to 9 p.m.

He also denied owning those articles of clothing, although a witness verified the articles of clothing have been worn by Rodriguez.

“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,” Salavantis said. “In his last few moments he fought for his life the only way he could — crawling for his cell phone and dialing 911.”

“All murders are senseless acts of violence, but in all of my years as District Attorney the murder of Mr. Patel struck a chord with myself, my staff, the police and community like few others have,” she continued.

Rodriguez was also sentenced in 2020 for a 2019 incident where he attempted to smuggle six endangered exotic parrots across the Vermont-Quebec border.

In addition to Hazleton City Police, County detectives as well as the Pennsylvania State Police, Luzerne County Drug Task Force, FBI Safe Streets Task Force also assisted on the case.

Staff writer Patrick Kernan contributed to this report.