Store Clerk killer escapes death penalty

A man who faced the death penalty for murdering a  store clerk almost two years ago pleaded guilty Tuesday and was sentenced to a lifetime behind bars.

Yusef Cantrell shot 24-year-old Harish Roy during an attempted robbery of the West End Stop N Shop on Lee Street on March 22, 2009. Surveillance cameras filmed the crime.

"After discussions with the family, DA Howard decided life without parole was the appropriate course of action in this case," said Yvette Brown, spokeswoman for Howard.

Two other men, Damian Grover and Xstavious Shreve, were also charged in the crime. They still face trial although no date has been set, Brown said

At the time, the then-27-year-old Cantrell claimed that he killed Roy when the clerk charged him, according to media reports. Video from the cameras shows two men, identified by police as Cantrell and Grover, entering the store and appearing to wait for customers to leave. Cantrell jumped through a narrow window opening of the cashier's cage and shot Roy, 24, as the clerk  ducked and put up his hands up in defense.

Cantrell was later charged with aggravated assault for stabbing a detention officer in the Fulton County jail while awaiting trial.