Charlotte Man Is Sentenced To 11+ Years For The Attempted Armed Robbery Of A Convenience Store

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr sentenced James Tiwauna Murray, 24, of Charlotte, to 137 months in prison and three years of supervised release for the 2019 attempted armed robbery of a 7-Eleven convenience store, announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Robert R. Wells, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department join Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and statements made in court, on September 9, 2019, at approximately 3:04 a.m., Murray, while armed with a handgun, entered the 7-Eleven convenience store, located at 5343 Monroe Road in Charlotte. Upon entering the store, Murray jumped over the counter and ran into the back office, where he encountered a store employee. Court records show that Murray told the store employee “this is a robbery” and shot the employee in the chest. Murray then ran out of the back office while the store employee pursued Murray. Murray shot at the store employee again and fled the scene without taking any of the store’s cash. The store employee reported the robbery to CMPD and Murray was arrested in the vicinity shortly thereafter.

On July 2, 2020, Murray pleaded guilty to attempted Hobbs Act robbery, which is the attempted robbery of a business engaged in interstate commerce. 

Murray is currently in federal custody. He will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

In announcing today’s sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer thanked the FBI and CMPD for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess handled the prosecution.