'Right around the block': Neighbor reacts to arrest of accused gas station clerk killer
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A neighbor of a man that Oklahoma City Police arrested Tuesday in connection to the killing of a metro gas station clerk says it comes as a shock.
Police arrested Anthony Gonzalez Jr. Tuesday near NW 85th and N County Line Road. It comes after Jaedynn Anthony was stabbed to death while working an overnight shift Friday at the 7-Eleven off of Wilshire and Council. That location is just over a mile away from Gonzalez's address.
"When the original clip came out for the video footage of the incident, he didn't look very recognizable," said neighbor Levi Sanders, referencing a video of the crime shared publicly by authorities Monday.
Court documents say police received two tips identifying Gonzalez as the murder suspect. Authorities also say they found him Tuesday wearing the same house shoes recorded in the video clip shared.
"It's kind of surreal that it was just like one house over," said Sanders. "Pay a little bit more attention, just be a little bit more aware of your surroundings."
Sanders said he heard and watched the incident play out Tuesday afternoon, which started with a swarm of law enforcement vehicles in the neighborhood.
At one point, he said he heard authorities yelling Gonzalez's name over a loud speaker. Sanders said Gonzalez and other family members eventually came outside of the home without incident, but its proximity to the original crime is unnerving.
"For it to be right around the block, it's a little, it's a little too close to home," said Sanders.
Sanders said he was a former 7-Eleven clerk and had several conversations with Jaedynn as a customer while visiting the store. He also expressed disappointment with her being allowed to work an overnight shift by herself.
"Even me being a full grown adult, like I wouldn't necessarily want to stay there so much overnight," said Sanders. "It can get a little sketchy."
News 4 employees were at Gonzalez's home around 6 p.m. Tuesday as well, while crime scene investigators and Oklahoma City Police detectives executed a search warrant to gather potential evidence in connection to the case.
Gonzalez was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail on a first-degree murder and robbery complaint.