A man who shot and killed a food delivery driver and seriously wounded another man inside a Denny’s restaurant in Manassas, Virginia, in 2019 was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder but avoided a more serious charge.
A jury found Jordan Anderson guilty of 45 charges, including second-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding. Defense attorneys succeeded with their argument that the deadly shooting was not premeditated and that Anderson had not intended to kill when he entered the Denny’s to commit robbery.
The shooting early the morning of Dec. 26, 2019, in the restaurant on Sudley Road killed Yusuf Ozgur, a 56-year-old father who was working as a DoorDash driver. A second man was shot, wounded and needed life-saving emergency surgery.
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The crime caught on security camera video revealed 2-and-a-half minutes of terror inside the restaurant in the early-morning hours after Christmas Day.
Anderson and Ryan Walker, burst into the restaurant and ordered customers to hand over their phones and valuables, prosecutors said. The manager was able to call 911.
“Somebody is going to f------ die tonight,” Anderson announced as he apparently realized his plan would be foiled, shooting survivor Bradley Sheetz told the jury earlier this month.
Sheetz was sitting in the restaurant with his girlfriend and her little sister when Anderson aimed a gun at him.
"I'm sitting there and he pulled the trigger," Sheetz testified.
Ozgur walked into the restaurant to pick up an order as Anderson and Walker were leaving. Anderson shot him, and he later died.
Anderson was found guilty of charges including abduction of all customers and employees, and use of a firearm in the abductions. He was found not guilty of robbery and use of a firearm in a robbery in reference to a victim whose cellphone was taken.
Prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that Anderson’s announcement that someone would die reflected premeditation. The defense argued that he had panicked as he fled.
Anderson had no visible reaction in the courtroom. Family members of Ozgur hugged the prosecutor.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth said she was satisfied with the second-degree murder conviction.
“It’s been our position since day one that each person inside of the Denny’s was the victim of a crime, and the jury confirmed that when they came in with guilty verdicts,” she told News4.
Ashworth said she will argue for a life sentence. A sentencing date will be set on Oct. 7.
Walker, the other man suspected in the crime, is set to face trial this spring.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
