Man found guilty of killing woman over salad outside Las Vegas 7-Eleven

Jurors returned a guilty verdict for second-degree murder on Tuesday against a man accused of fatally shooting a woman in the back over a salad.

Prosecutors had asked that Rainier Jefferson, 37, be found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Mallery Armijo. Jefferson was arrested in 2023 after a June shooting outside a 7-Eleven near Sahara Avenue and Joe W Brown Drive.

Authorities have said that Armijo was inside the store with items in her hands and a premade salad in her purse. Jefferson, a store clerk, instructed Armijo to put the items down. After she complied, he chased her outside — even though pursuing shoplifters violated 7-Eleven policy, said Deputy District Attorney Kayla Farzaneh-Simmons.

In the store’s parking lot, Jefferson tried to grab Armijo’s purse, and one of her friends briefly displayed a gun, according to the prosecutor. Jefferson then recovered the salad and threw it across the parking lot. Despite the confrontation, Armijo reentered the store. As she and her group finally walked away, Jefferson followed them with a gun, Farzaneh-Simmons added.

Armijo was shot twice in the back, and both bullets hit her spinal cord, according to Farzaneh-Simmons.

Jefferson’s public defender argued during the trial that her client was “outnumbered” by transients and drug users armed with knives and a gun. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 30.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com. Reporter Noble Brigham also contributed to this report.