A Waynesboro man accused of murder in the Jan. 10 killing of an Augusta smoke shop employee passed up a plea offer Wednesday that one day might have seen him released from prison.
Prosecutors offered Antwan Herndon, 22, a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole plus five years in exchange for a guilty plea. That would put him behind bars for at least 35 years.
With the plea deal set to expire, Herndon on Wednesday became “adamant” he would not accept it, his attorney, Ian Puczkowski, told the court at what was to be a sentencing hearing in Senior Judge Daniel J. Craig’s court.
Herndon, a first-offender probationer, and codefendants Terry McClendon and Terrence Walker were indicted in March for murder and armed robbery in the brutal slaying of Abdallah Abu Rubeha, who was working at a Lumpkin Road smoke shop.
The trio backed a vehicle up to the shop door and Walker and Herndon went inside. Walker pointed a gun at Rubeha, demanding money and asking him if he wished to die that day, Assistant District Attorney Keagan Waystack told the court.
When Rubeha refused to open the cash register, Walker shot him, and Herndon jumped the counter and grabbed the money, Waystack said.
The men left, then used the money to buy things at a convenience store, she said. They were apprehended in Burke County.
