A Dallas appeals court has shut down the latest challenge from Jamarco Blanton, leaving intact his life-without-parole sentence for the 2023 capital murder of Terrell convenience store owner Fahed “Pops” Fatayri. The decision keeps in place a Kaufman County jury’s finding that Fatayri was shot during an attempted robbery at the Mom & Pops store.
Jurors previously heard that on May 12, 2023, Blanton and two others went into the store and an argument quickly escalated into gunfire. Surveillance footage and witness accounts captured what happened, and officers already in the area detained a man running from the scene, later recovering a jacket and firearm nearby, according to The Dallas Morning News.
To many in Terrell, Fatayri was more than a shop owner. Relatives described him as a familiar, generous presence who routinely spotted customers short on cash. “He always helped people and I was thankful for that,” Mazen Fatayri told local reporters after the shooting, per FOX4. His killing rattled the neighborhood as the case moved through the courts.
Appeals Court Affirms Conviction
In a memorandum opinion issued Wednesday, the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas rejected Blanton’s appellate claims and affirmed the trial court’s judgment, leaving his mandatory life-without-parole sentence in place, according to Inforney. The justices pointed to the combination of video, eyewitness testimony and physical evidence in upholding the jury’s conclusion that Fatayri was shot to facilitate a theft. Investigators recovered a discarded gun from a storm drain, and testing linked it to the fatal bullet, while Blanton was detained nearby after being seen running from the store.
What The Court Said
As the opinion put it, “the court rejected all four of Blanton’s appellate arguments,” and the panel walked through each challenge in turn, according to Inforney. The court ruled that Texas law does not allow a self-defense jury instruction for a defendant who is committing or attempting a robbery, turned aside a sufficiency-of-the-evidence claim based on the video and physical proof, and found that an objection under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 38.22 was not preserved because defense counsel did not make a specific objection at trial. The justices also held that a post-shooting photograph of Fatayri was not unfairly prejudicial under Rule 403.
What Comes Next
Blanton’s attorneys can still ask the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to take a look. Under state procedure, a petition for discretionary review must be filed within the required timeline, and the high court has the option to grant or deny review, per the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. If the Court of Criminal Appeals declines, the appellate ruling becomes final and the trial court’s sentence remains in effect.
For now, Blanton’s life-without-parole sentence stays in place, and Terrell residents are left to continue mourning the loss of a longtime neighborhood merchant. The appeals court’s decision closes out the latest round of legal challenges and keeps the jury’s 2024 verdict firmly on the books.
