A man has been charged with the killing of Israeli Snir Lalum last month in Birmingham, Alabama.
Sebastian Deonta Ross, 23, was charged with capital murder for allegedly killing Lalum, 44, during a robbery at the moving company co-owned by the Israeli man, Al.com reported Friday.
Lalum had been living in the US for a number of years, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The Al.com report said Lalum, also known as Sonny, was shot dead while Ross and a second suspect were allegedly carrying out a robbery. It was unclear if the second suspect had been arrested.
Ross allegedly followed Lalum from a nearby convenience store to Insta Movers on August 24.
According to the report, the Israeli took his workers to the store every morning to buy them food and drink ahead of the workday.
Friends and associates told the news site that Lalum, who is survived by his wife and 6-year-old son, was incredibly generous.
“If you knew him, he was a happy-go-lucky character who would dance around the office and sing,” Briana Lee told the site. “He took me under his wing, and I became family.”
“I know everybody says this after somebody passes but if you’re walking around without a shirt on, he would give you his,’’ she said. “He’d done that with some of our workers before.”
On the day of the murder, police were dispatched to Insta Movers at 5:15 a.m. They found Lalum unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound in the warehouse bay of the moving company.
Responding officers attempted lifesaving resuscitation efforts on the victim. He was taken to Birmingham’s UAB hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, the Birmingham Police Department said.
Police told the Times of Israel the gunman apparently approached the victim, shot him and then fled. No one else was injured in the incident.
Lalum was buried in Israel.
