The victim, Ahmad Alkhalaf, was killed in November 2024 during a Facebook Marketplace meetup in Oak Cliff; prosecutors said one teen planned the robbery and the other pulled the trigger.
DALLAS — Two Dallas-area teenagers received lengthy prison sentences for a 2024 Facebook Marketplace robbery that turned into a deadly shooting, and the grandmother of one defendant publicly apologized to the victim’s family, saying she sought out authorities and a local reporter to deliver the message.
Prosecutors said 19-year-old Amaya Medrano shot 66-year-old Ahmad Alkhalaf at a gas station off I-35 and South Marsalis Avenue after a meetup arranged to sell an iPhone. Eighteen-year-old Annika Aleman planned the robbery, officials said. Medrano pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 55 years; Aleman pleaded guilty and received 37. The pleas spared Alkhalaf’s family a trial but did not ease their loss, prosecutors said. After the sentencing, Aleman’s grandmother, Sheila Dena, said she wanted the family to hear a direct apology: “I am so incredibly sorry for what my granddaughter did.”
According to investigators, Alkhalaf advertised the phone online and agreed to meet on a November afternoon in 2024. Surveillance video and digital messages helped detectives identify suspects quickly. Medrano was arrested first, followed later by Aleman as detectives traced the planning to her communications. Assistant District Attorney Alicia Patterson called Dena’s outreach uncommon in murder cases but said it reflected the gravity of the crime. Dena also said her brother was killed in a robbery decades ago, giving her perspective on the pain Alkhalaf’s relatives now carry.
Community members said the killing revived long-running concerns about online sales conducted in parking lots. Police agencies have tried to steer buyers and sellers to station lobbies or designated lots, but many exchanges still happen at gas pumps and storefronts. In this case, prosecutors said the teens intended a robbery from the start. Unknown details include the exact sequence of the confrontation at the pump and how many seconds passed before the fatal shot. Officials said no evidence points to additional accomplices.
The legal process now enters routine post-sentencing steps. Certified judgments and transfer paperwork are being finalized for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Victim services will handle parole notifications when eligible dates arise years from now. The district attorney’s office reported no pending hearings in Dallas County tied to the case. Any appeals would be limited by the plea agreements, and neither defendant has announced one.
On Friday, the gas station’s pavement showed faint tape residue where lines once marked the crime scene. A customer paused at a pump and said she avoids in-person sales now. Dena, who has volunteered in prison ministry, said she believes her granddaughter can change while serving her sentence but added that the central story is Alkhalaf’s life. “They didn’t deserve this,” she said of his family. Patterson said the case stands as a reminder of the human cost of a quick theft.
As of Saturday, both teens are in state custody and the Dallas police investigation is closed; the next milestone is the final filing of judgments with state records early next week.
Author note: Last updated November 15, 2025.