Jurors in Prince William County, Virginia, watched a video Monday of the more than four hour-long police interview of a man accused of shooting and killing a father of two who was working as a food delivery driver the night after Christmas in 2019.
Yusuf Ozgur, 56, walked into a Denny's in Manassas as a robbery was underway, Prince William County police said. He "unknowingly held the door for the suspects as they exited," police said.
Jordan Anderson, the man accused of pulling the trigger and killing Ozgur, is now on trial.
Prosecutors say he and Ryan Walker burst into the Denny’s not long after midnight on Dec. 26 intending to steal money and jewelry from customers.
The store manager escaped to call police, and as the two suspects took off, Ozgur entered the restaurant to pick up a food order for DoorDash. Police said Anderson shot Ozgur once, a fatal wound. A customer who was also shot survived.
Anderson and Walker were arrested in the killing a few days after the crime. They are both charged with first-degree murder.
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During Anderson's interview with detectives, they urge him to search his conscience and cooperate so he might avoid a capital murder charge.
"There is a man with two young children who is no longer with us now. The most important part is what caused this to happen? What was in your mind when you did this?" a detective asks Anderson in the video.
Anderson resisted providing any details at first, saying, "If I help you out, I'll be labeled a snitch. I'll go to a level four or five prison and I'll be murdered."
After more appeals from detectives, he confessed.
"I didn't mean to kill him. I thought he was trying to stop me so I shot him. I didn't (expletive) want to do it," he said in the interview with detectives.
Anderson also admitted to and detailed a series of armed robberies.
Defense attorneys are expected to try to convince jurors that Anderson panicked and pulled the trigger. They plan to argue that Ozgur's killing was not pre-meditated, therefore, it shouldn't be classified as first-degree murder.
The prosecution intends to call more witnesses on Tuesday.
