‘A Very Kind Person’: Orangeburg Businessman Remembered After Fatal Shooting

The front of the Orangeburg Tobacco and Vape Shop, located at 2565 North Road, was turned into a memorial for a few days last week following the killing of Yousef Mohammad Alsayidi.

Flowers, cards, candles and other expressions of sympathy filled the exterior storefront.

They were placed there in remembrance of Alsayidi. The 21-year-old managed his father’s store.

Someone shot and killed him there on March 17 at 4:39 p.m.

The store was closed for a week following Alsayidi’s death, but has since reopened.

Neal Whisenhunt, one of Alsayidi’s cousins who works at the shop, said on Monday that Alsayidi “was a wonderful man.”

“He was great to the core because that man, if you asked for anything, he would give it to you,” Whisenhunt said.

“If people came in here and didn’t have three or four dollars on their order, it was OK. He did not care. I’ve seen him take his own card out and tap for people to get whatever they needed,” he said.

Whisenhunt said his cousin was especially generous when it came to drinks.

“If people didn’t have money for drinks, he would say to just take it. It’s not that big of deal. Everyone needs water. Everyone needs food,” he said.

He said he’s seen Alsayidi give clothes to those who were in need.

Whisenhunt said Alsayidi was, “super sweet to everyone who came in and had super high energy.”

“He was a genuine person. He had a lot going for him. He was getting ready to get married soon. He had big, big plans for his future,” he said.

Alsayidi and his younger brother were exceptionally close, Whisenhunt said.

“His brother is torn up about it because he was so close” to Alsayidi, Whisenhunt said.

Alsayidi “was a big role model for his little brother. They were the closest people in the world. They did everything together. Yousef was basically like a second dad, even though they already had a great one,” Whisenhunt said.

“Now Yousef got taken from us,” Whisenhunt said.

He noted that Alsayidi was born in Yemen, but had lived in New York and North Carolina before moving to Orangeburg a couple of years ago.

Alsayidi spoke five languages: Turkish, Arabic, English, Spanish and a small bit of French.

He was constantly learning English.

Whisenhunt said there was an occasion when Alsayidi rang up a customer and the customer attempted to pay using a bank card.

The transaction showed, “card declined,” Whisenhunt said.

He said Alsayidi asked loudly what “card declined” meant and Whisenhunt told him. He also told him not to say loudly that a customer’s card was declined.

As a result of the incident, Alsayidi had a long-time joke saying, “card declined” to many customers – even those who paid in cash, Whisenhunt said.

Whisenhunt said Alsayidi and his family are devoted Muslims.

“They follow the Quran very seriously. They don’t believe in any hate or forced religion,” he said.

Alsayidi was buried in Raeford, North Carolina on March 21.

Zakariyah Alsaidi, one of Alsayidi’s cousins who works at the shop, said that the family appreciates everything the community is doing to remember him.

“Yousef was a very kind person,” Alsaidi said.

Many of Alsayidi’s customers, and others who knew him in the community, have been remembering him in the days following his slaying.

Christy Costello brought a bouquet of flowers on Wednesday to place at the storefront.

“He was a really cool guy. He definitely had a personality about himself,” she said.

Costello was one of Alsayidi’s customers. She’d known him for about a year.

When she heard the news of Alsayidi’s death, “I don’t think nobody could express what they heard. It was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe it.”

Customer James Frazier also visited the storefront to remember Alsayidi.

“He was a very nice guy. He was a very cool guy,” Frazier said.

Frazier said he knows Alsayidi’s father and that Alsayidi’s father would call him “Son” every time he’d visit the business.

“They were like family to me. Prayers go up for the family,” Frazier said.

Devante Butler, another Orangeburg customer, said he’d known Alsayidi for about two or three months.

“Every time I came (to the store), he always had a big smile on his face,” Butler said of Alsayidi.

“Just in that short amount of time, he had a positive impact on me,” he added.

Desiree Ross, owner of Coffee & Things in Orangeburg, said Alsayidi was a regular customer.

“He would come by and get coffee for himself and his dad on the regular,” she said.

She knew Alsayidi for a good year-and-a-half, she said.

“He had the best smile,” Ross said.

“He was trying to learn English. Just a great personality, just awesome,” she added.

“He’d light up a room. Just amazing. So friendly and always eager to help. Always clowning, making jokes. Just a great young man,” Ross added.

Ross was devastated when she learned of Alsayidi’s death on the afternoon of March 17.

“It’s just so sad and senseless. He would personally go out of his way to help somebody,” she said.

“Can you imagine a 21-year-old leaving such an impact? It’s just gut-wrenching that it happened like this. You would never anticipate that,” Ross said.

Aretexasis Lafontae Murray, 19, of Jasper Street, Orangeburg, is charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office.

Warrants claim Murray and Alsayidi got into a physical altercation over a transaction.

Murray allegedly pulled a pistol from his left jacket pocket and shot Alsayidi.

Investigators claim Murray surrendered to law enforcement. He allegedly provided a video and audio confession of the crime.

In addition, the shooting was recorded on surveillance video, according to warrants.

A circuit judge may consider setting Murray’s bond later.

If Murray is convicted, he faces up to life in prison.