Owner of Taz’s convenience store takes the stand in his Raleigh murder trial
A string of witnesses testified Friday that Taiseer “Taz” Zarka is a peaceful, outgoing person who respects the law and helps downtown Raleigh police any way he can.
But they also testified they knew that the downtown convenience store owner carried a knife, and they knew he’d used it on customers before.
Zarka’s trial for second-degree murder finished its third day as with two unusual legal events: the jury was expected to travel by bus to the crime scene at Taz’s store on Wilmington Street, and Zarka briefly taking the stand to testify on his own behalf. His testimony will likely continue on Monday.
Taz’s owner on trial for stabbing death
At 61, Zarka stands charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Mark Thomas Garrity Jr., whom videos show stumbling out of the store, bleeding, after a fight with Zarka inside.
Garrity, 27, of Calabash bled out from three stab wounds, including one to the heart, while a teenager recorded the encounter on her cellphone and a bartender from The Raleigh Times tried to save his life.
For much of this week, testimony has swung between whether Zarka overreacted to a man he thought stole a bottle of Gatorade, or whether he defended himself in a sometimes dangerous part of downtown Raleigh.
Previous witnesses described Zarka trying to mop up the blood while Garrity lay wounded outside, while jurors have also seen him describe to police being punched and attacked when he confronted a potential shoplifter.
Jurors learned Zarka had been previously arrested in a knife fight with six men in his store, but had the case dismissed, and they learned Garrity had cocaine and Fentanyl in his system at the time of his death.
Zarka briefly takes the stand, talks about life experiences
At about 4:15 p.m. on Friday, Judge Keith Gregory called Zarka to the stand. The store owner, wearing a navy suit and red tie, was first questioned by his attorney, Karl Knudsen.
Knudsen began asking the convenience store owner about his background. Zarka was born in Palestine in the Gaza Strip in 1963. His family moved to Kuwait when he was a teenager and later migrated to Raleigh to attend school at Shaw University, East Carolina University and Wake Technical Community College before finishing with a degree in business management and accounting from Shaw in the late 1980s.
The examination was largely about his life in Kuwait after he graduated and lived there during Desert Storm. Knudsen tried to question Zarka about his experience during the war and his role in helping Americans who lived there.
However, Gregory, the judge, stopped the questioning, removed the jurors and said that Taz’s experience in Kuwait was not relevant to Garrity’s murder on April 6, 2023. What was relevant was a dislocated arm injury Taz got when he was in Kuwait that still gives him problems.
Zarka also has bladder and prostate cancer and is receiving treatment. On the morning of the April 2023 incident, Zarka said he received chemotherapy which causes pain in his joints.
In 2000, Zarka moved his family to Raleigh and got into the retail business opening gas stations and convenience stores, he testified. He said he liked the business because of the diversity of people who come to the stores. He opened Taz’s Supermarket at 207 S. Wilmington Street in 2007.
“Everybody goes to a convenience store, everybody always wants something,” Zarka said Friday in court. “I like dealing with all kind of people, races. You get to know (a lot of) people.”
He said on average, the store will see over 20,000 customers a month. The high traffic was due to the location of the store being next to the bus station and the city’s government buildings.
Before Knudsen began questioning Zarka about whether he witnessed shoplifting or other questions about the murder, Gregory postponed the trial until Monday at 9:30 a.m.
Jurors take trip to downtown Raleigh convenience store
Before Zarka testified, the jurors were transported by the Wake County Sheriff’s Department to Taz’s downtown Raleigh store for a viewing.
Before the trip, jurors were given strict rules:
Jurors could take notes
No questions about the store
No talking amongst themselves
No demonstrations about the incident conducted
No roaming individually around the store
The store’s surveillance system was also turned off while the jurors were in the store. No members of Taz’s staff, customers or members of the media were allowed to be inside.
Witnesses testify about Zarka’s reputation
Earlier Friday, the defense began calling witnesses to testify about Zarka’s reputation downtown, a list that included two Raleigh police officers.
Officer Daniel Rosa testified he has responded to hundreds of calls from Taz’s, including trespassing, larceny and assaults. Zarka frequently allows officers to use video footage from his store to help identify “perps.”
He described Zarka as “an outstanding citizen. I do think he is well-respected in the community.”
But on cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Latour asked if some of those calls came from people complaining about “Taz” himself.
“That would be fair,” Rosa said.
Latour: Are you aware he carries a knife?
Rosa: Yes
Latour: Are you aware he’s used that knife before this event?
Rosa: Yes.
Friends testify, describe Zarka as ‘peaceful’ and ‘law-abiding’
Longtime friend Issa Shaikh testified that he and Zarka came from the same hometown in Palestine, and moved to North Carolina from Kuwait at roughly the same time more than 40 years ago. He felt compelled, he said, to act as a guide when Zarka was a newcomer. For this trial, he said, he posted 90% of his friend’s bail.
“This has floored all of us,” he said. “Not the character I’ve known. Not the person I’ve lived and traveled with. ... He is more peaceful than I am. ... If I had to sit her to testify for the next 10 years, I would, because I know this was not int—”
An objection cut him off.
Later, Latour asked if it was possible to be law-abiding and still violate the law, or if Shaikh would agree that just because a person is generally nonviolent, it doesn’t mean they can never be violent.
“Everybody loves Taz,” he said. “He’ll charge for five and give a couple free.”
An objection cut him off again.
Throughout Friday’s testimony, witnesses described rough company around the downtown bus station where “Taz” keeps his store. Police reported seeing people drunk and disruptive, starting fights and stealing items from the store on a regular basis.
Questioning one of them, Latour asked, “Do you know if anybody told the defendant he had to open his store at that location instead of North Hills?”
The defense called Phillip Horwitz to testify. Horwitz owns the building Taz’s store occupies and he has known Zarka for more than 20 years.
Horwitz said he had always known Zarka to pay rent on time, had a “good reputation” with customers. He testified that he never personally had any issues with him.
When asked if the murder changed his opinion about Zarka, Horwitz said, “No, I don’t think so.”
“It’s just an unfortunate thing that happened,” he said.
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 2:32 PM.