'I get my life back:' Man acquitted in fatal shooting
Andre Isaac walked out of a Gaston County courtroom crying.
But his tears were of relief, not devastation.
Isaac, who was charged in the May 2018 killing of a gas station clerk, was found not guilty by a jury after a trial that lasted more than a week.
Isaac initially faced a charge of first-degree murder, which would have carried a mandatory life sentence if convicted. Prosecutors dismissed that charge Nov. 10, shortly before Isaac's trial began, leaving him facing only the three charges of accessory after the fact.
Still, he faced eight to 17 years in prison if convicted, according to District Attorney Travis Page.
Isaac expressed his condolences to those grieving the clerk, 43-year-old Desta Hagos, an East African refugee who had only been in the United States a few months at the time of his death, in his first public statement since his arrest.
"First of all, I'd like to say that my heart and my condolences goes out to the victims in any regard. I mean, this whole situation was heinous. And no part of this day, of being found not guilty, takes away from the fact that what happened was just disgusting and horrible," Isaac said. "I am immensely grateful that the jury understood that throughout all of the confusing factors of this case, that I did nothing wrong."
Isaac was accused of going with Alontae Marquasian Cousar, then 21, to Zula Express, a convenience store on East Ozark Avenue. Once there, Isaac entered the store but didn't buy anything, then went back out to wait in the car, prosecutors said. When he heard a gunshot, he pulled into the road but did not leave. Eventually, Cousar returned to the car, and the two went to a house in Gastonia, where Isaac's cousin lived.
However, Hagos was not the first person Cousar shot that night. Around 90 minutes before shooting Hagos, Cousar went to Gray's Franklin Express Mart and shot the clerk there, Tomeka Lynch, seven times. The first bullet punched through Lynch's ear and just missed her brain. Lynch survived, but she was gravely injured. Cousar had been out of prison for less than a month at the time of the shootings.
Cousar pleaded guilty in 2020 to second-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon. He was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison to a maximum of more than 51 years.
Unlike Cousar, Isaac, who had no criminal record prior to the shooting, has maintained his innocence from the beginning. Although he heard a gunshot, he maintains that he did not know where it came from. He never saw Cousar with the gun, and he did not know Cousar shot and killed Hagos.
A Winthrop University graduate, Isaac worked as a substitute teacher, a job he was unable to do after his arrest. He said that while he had opportunities to accept a plea bargain, he is glad he went to trial.
Now, he says, he gets to start over. He plans to seek an expungement, and get the kind of job that leads to a career.
"I think that my family and support system behind me was incredibly strong and that most people don't get through the situation because they don't have the support I did," he said. "I get my life back. I can get a nine to five job that's not working 'til 3 a.m."
He also plans to travel to visit family and friends, something he has been unable to do while out of jail awaiting trial.
"I haven't traveled in a very long time," he said.
Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 704-869-1850 or at kfohner@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: South Carolina man acquitted in fatal shooting of gas station clerk
