A quiet overnight shift at an Oklahoma County 7-Eleven turned into a killing that prosecutors say netted the robber less than $40 and left a young mother dead. The clerk, working alone, greeted the man who walked in before he allegedly turned on her with a knife. What should have been a routine late-night shift instead became a case that has shaken her family, the community, and everyone who has watched the security footage.
Prosecutors say the suspect, a 24-year-old man, walked into the store acting like any other customer, then suddenly attacked. The small amount of cash taken, compared with the life stolen, has become a grim shorthand for how senseless the crime was.
The overnight shift that turned deadly
The victim, identified as teenager Jaedynn Anthony, was working the graveyard shift alone at a 7-Eleven in Oklahoma County when the attacker came in. Surveillance video described in charging documents shows the man entering the store, chatting casually, and even saying “hi” before the situation flipped from ordinary to lethal. Prosecutors say that within moments of that greeting, the encounter escalated into a stabbing that left Anthony mortally wounded behind the counter, turning a familiar convenience store into a crime scene.
Investigators allege that the man responsible is 24-year-old Anthony Gonzalez, who was later featured in a wanted notice from the U.S. Marshals Service. Authorities say Gonzalez walked out of the Oklahoma County store with less than $40 in cash, a detail that has come to define the sheer pointlessness of the killing. Court filings and law enforcement summaries describe how the smiling approach, the brief small talk, and the sudden violence all unfolded inside that single 7-Eleven in Oklahoma County, a store where Anthony had been trying to build a steady routine as a new mom and worker.
A new mom, a “bright light,” and a 1-year-old left behind
Family and friends describe Jaedynn Anthony as a teenager who had just started to find her footing as a parent and provider. A fundraising page created in her honor calls her a “bright light” and emphasizes how much joy she brought to those around her, even while juggling the demands of a low-wage job and caring for an infant. That same page notes that she left behind a “precious 1-year-old” named Bray, a child who will now grow up with stories and photos instead of memories of his mother. The portrait that emerges is not of someone passing through a job, but of a young woman trying to build something stable for herself and her son.
Relatives say Anthony took the overnight work because it fit around childcare and the realities of life with a toddler. The GoFundMe for Anthony and Bray has become both a memorial and a lifeline, with donors stepping in to help cover funeral costs and support the child she left behind. In the comments and tributes, people talk about her smile, her work ethic, and the way she lit up when she talked about her baby, underscoring how much was taken in a matter of minutes inside that Oklahoma County store.
“Less than $40” and a chillingly casual approach
Prosecutors in Oklahoma County have zeroed in on the detail that the robbery yielded “less than $40,” a figure that has been repeated in charging documents and public statements. According to the Oklahoma County District Attorney, the suspect’s decision to kill for that amount shows a level of disregard for human life that goes beyond a typical robbery. The phrase “less than $40” has become a kind of shorthand for the case, a way to capture how wildly out of proportion the violence was to the supposed motive of getting cash from the register.
What makes the footage even harder to process, according to descriptions from investigators, is how normal the interaction looked at first. The man reportedly walked in, smiled, and exchanged a greeting before the attack. One account notes that the new mom worker said “hi” to her killer at the 7-Eleven before dying for “less than $40,” a sequence that prosecutors in Oklahoma County have highlighted as they lay out the case. The detail about the greeting and the tiny amount of money comes through in summaries tied to the Oklahoma County District Attorney, who is overseeing the prosecution and has stressed that the killing unfolded inside his jurisdiction. That framing is echoed in coverage that describes how the $40 figure has come to define the senselessness of the crime.
The suspect, the manhunt, and the path to trial
Once investigators identified Anthony Gonzalez as the suspect, the search for him intensified. A wanted bulletin featuring his photo was circulated by the U.S. Marshals Service, which joined local law enforcement in tracking him down. In that notice, Gonzalez is clearly labeled, with his image appearing alongside references to the fatal robbery at the Oklahoma County 7-Eleven. The same materials describe how he allegedly smiled and spoke to Anthony before the attack, a detail that has stuck with detectives and the public alike. The involvement of the Marshals underscores how seriously authorities took the case from the moment they had a name and face to attach to the killing.
After his arrest, Gonzalez appeared in court, where a judge reviewed the evidence gathered so far. According to a summary of that hearing, the judge ruled there was enough for the case to move forward, clearing the way for a full trial. His next court date is currently set for April 1, a marker that the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office is working toward as it prepares to present the case in front of a jury. The description of the hearing and the upcoming date appears in a post that refers to the 7-Eleven clerk as being murdered by a smiling robber who said “hi” before the stabbing, and notes that The Okl judge found sufficient evidence to proceed. That same account reinforces that the proceedings are rooted in Oklahoma County, despite any confusing references elsewhere.
Grief, outrage, and the bigger questions about late-night work
In the weeks since the killing, grief for Anthony has mixed with anger over the conditions that put her alone behind the counter in the middle of the night. Friends and strangers alike have questioned why a teenager and new mother was working an overnight shift by herself, with only cameras and a panic button between her and anyone who walked through the door. The Oklahoma County case has become part of a broader conversation about how convenience stores staff their most vulnerable hours, and whether chains like 7-Eleven are doing enough to protect workers who are often young, underpaid, and easy targets for desperate or violent people.
Advocates for retail workers point out that the details of this case are painfully familiar: a lone clerk, a late hour, and a robber who seems relaxed until the moment he pulls a weapon. The fact that Anthony greeted the man, that he smiled back, and that he still went on to kill her for less than $40 has struck a nerve far beyond Oklahoma County. Coverage of the case has repeatedly highlighted how she was working alone at that 7-Eleven when the 24-year-old robber walked in, a point reinforced in reports that feature the U.S. Marshals Service image of Anthony Gonzalez and the GoFundMe photo of Jaedynn Anthony. For her family, the legal process and the policy debates are important, but they all come back to the same unbearable fact: a young mother went to work at a neighborhood store and never came home, and the price of her life was counted in a handful of crumpled bills from a cash drawer.
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