Beaumont convenience store robbers sentenced for killing clerk with firearm in 2023

Two men who murdered a convenient store clerk during a robbery in Beaumont received multi-decade prison sentences.

Keandre Marquis Robinson, 20, pleaded guilty to possessing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death. He was sentenced to 405 months in federal prison May 30.

Larry Nathaniel Hagan, 28, of Houston, also pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced to 420 months in federal prison.

• Suspect in connection with deadly carjacking in southwest Houston arrested in Corpus Christi

Prosecutors said that on Dec. 29, 2023, Robinson and Hagan entered the Kris Food Mart located on Gulf Street in Beaumont while wearing masks and brandishing semi-automatic pistols.

Robinson quickly forced the clerk behind the counter and demanded cash while Hagan guarded the front door. Seconds later, Robinson fatally shot the clerk two times in the chest. He then grabbed cigarettes from behind the counter and fled with Hagan.

Shockingly, no cash was taken during the robbery.

Later that night, the Beaumont Police Department posted images from the robbery to social media, and a tip identified Robinson as one of the perpetrators.

Police detained Robinson about three hours after the robbery, just a few blocks from the store. Robinson confessed to his role in the robbery and killing but would not identify his accomplice.

• Man on probation for sex crime with child now accused of assaulting 12-year-old in Houston

Detectives searched Robinson’s phone and discovered text messages with Hagan related to the robbery. The texts began on Dec. 28 at 10:15 a.m. and ended a few minutes after the robbery.

During the conversation, Robinson and Hagan planned to rob the store to “[g]et some money.” In one text, Robinson told Hagan that he would “knock [the clerk’s] top” [to eliminate any] “lose [sic] ends…”.

The conversation ended on Dec. 29 at 10:07 p.m., approximately four minutes after the murder.

In that text, Hagan told Robinson to “[s]tay in the house for some days.”

• Westbound Katy Freeway feeder road reopens after fatal pedestrian crash

In a statement announcing the convictions, authorities highlighted the text messages’ role in providing evidence of premeditation in the shooting.

“Keandre Robinson’s text messages with Larry Hagan, plotting the slaughter of an unsuspecting store clerk, leave no doubt their only ‘plan’ was to kill,” said Douglas Williams, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Houston. “This was not a robbery gone wrong; it was a cold-blooded, premeditated execution.”

Robinson was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 7, 2024.

Hagan remained at large until April 24, 2024, when he was arrested in New Orleans by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Authorities also revealed that both suspects had violent track records dating back to before the shooting.

“This case shows the importance of collaboration between our officers, our federal partners, and the community that helped us identify the suspect so quickly,” said Beaumont Police Chief Tim Ocnaschek. “The shooter had already committed an aggravated robbery a year before and was back on the streets just weeks before this murder. The second suspect came to our city with a violent past. While no sentence can bring back the innocent life that was lost, taking these dangerous criminals off the streets for decades makes our community safer and sends a strong message about consequences.”