Teen charged with murder in Ballard convenience-store robbery

A 17-year-old boy accused of killing a Ballard convenience-store clerk during a robbery on Sunday has been charged with first-degree murder.

Elijah Hall has been charged as an adult in King County Superior Court.

Hall is accused of killing Manish Melwani, 28, a clerk at the Pit Stop Express and 76 gas station, at 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 58th Street, early Sunday morning.

Hall is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 11. If convicted as charged, he could face a sentence of between 20 and 26 years in prison.

According to charging documents, Hall walked into the empty store at 6:28 a.m. Sunday while Melwani was in the back room. Video from the store shows him wearing a dark-colored beanie cap with the snowboard-designer name "Burton" printed in gold, sunglasses and a dark-colored bandanna. He also wore a dark jacket, dark pants and black shoes with a white stripe on them.

At 6:33 a.m., when Melwani walked out of the back room, Hall crouched behind the counter and pulled a gun out of his pocket, the charges say. Melwani approached the teen and tried to grab him, but was shot twice, according to the charges.

Melwani managed to wrestle the gunman onto the counter, but the teen was able to pry himself loose, charging papers say. A witness in the store parking lot who saw the teen run away from the Pit Stop Express called 911.

On Sunday evening, a man called police to say he found clothing matching what was worn by the accused gunman outside his house in the 1400 block of Northwest 60th Street, according to the charges.

While officers were collecting the clothing, one detective noticed a teen nearby. The teen identified himself as Hall and gave the detective his address, the charges say. Hall told the detective he had heard two gunshots between 6:30 and 7 a.m. A teenage girl who lives at the house with Hall told police she didn't hear anything that morning.

On Monday, the state crime lab matched fingerprints found inside the Pit Stop Express to Hall, according to charges. Hall was arrested less than two hours later.