A Shreveport man accused of robbing a gas station cashier at gunpoint on Christmas Eve 2019 was found guilty of first-degree robbery Wednesday, July 13, 2022 in Caddo District Court.

The six-man, six-woman jury in District Judge Ramona Emanuel’s court unanimously convicted Jerol Leo Ewell, 24, of the robbery of the Shell Station in the 4700 block of North Market Street. His trial commenced Monday, July 11, 2022.

Cashier Sadi Awawdah was working at the Shell station at 4749 N. Market St. when a masked man entered around 9:25 p.m., held a gun to his head and demanded money and the victim’s cell phone. After the robber left, Awawdah called police, who tracked his stolen iPhone to a nearby field, where a ski mask was found by a police K9. The mask was analyzed at the North Louisiana Criminalistics Lab and the DNA was found to match Ewell.

Ewell will return to court Wednesday, August 17, 2022, for sentencing. He faces a sentence of at least three and up to 40 years in prison at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

Ewell was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Senae D. Hall and Fernando Grider. He was defended by Katherine Ferguson and Royal Alexander.