A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in New Mexico by the widow and child of an armed robbery suspect against the store clerk who shot him.

According to news reports, Ramon Sedillo walked into Full Spectrum Smoke Shop with a gun, intending to rob the store. Instead, store clerk Matthew Beasley fired his gun, killing Sedillo and injuring his 17-year-old accomplice.

The civil lawsuit claims Beasley was in the wrong because store surveillance video shows Beasley watching Sedillo and his accomplice get ready for the crime and Beasley had sufficient time to call the police or leave the store before firing his gun at the suspected robbers. Instead, the lawsuit alleges Beasley decided to "ambush" the thieves.

“He had no basis to believe that his life was in danger," Sedillo's attorney, Amavalise Jaramillo, said.  "Most robberies end with an attempt to get money.  They really don’t kill the clerks."

Beasley's attorney, Tom Briones, claims there was no time to call police.

“Mr. Sedillo pulled out a gun and pointed it right at him," Briones said.  "That prompted Mr. Beasley to pull his gun and fire his weapon.”

The lawsuit also names the clerk's boss for allowing him to work, knowing he had a gun, and the Albuquerque Police Department for holding the widow against her will for four hours of questioning and telling her to call her husband when the officers knew he was dead.

—Source: wrqe.com (New Mexico)