Ken Sato was winding down a late Friday night in his office. The owner of Shell Mart at 505 Vernon St. had just checked his Facebook and his e-mail and was getting ready to head home shortly after midnight when he heard two gunshots.

“I saw it on video. I knew what happened. I knew I needed an ambulance. I shut the door and called 911,” Sato said.

Joseph Boison, longtime night clerk at the convenience store near LaGrange College, was shot twice in the chest at 12:38 a.m. Saturday.

“He was mixing coffee at the front of the store when this kid walked in. No words were exchanged. It was cold-blooded,” Sato said.

The shooter took the store’s cash registers and lottery tickets.

LaGrange police responded to the emergency call within seconds.

“I couldn’t believe how fast they got here,” Sato said. “But it took the ambulance a lot longer to get here.”

Police located the suspect’s vehicle abandoned on nearby Alford Street and later located Christopher Caruso hiding behind a house on Ridge Street. Caruso, 18, of Ridley Avenue was charged with murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Evidence of the crime was recovered with Caruso’s vehicle and with him. He was being held without bond at the Troup County Jail today.

Caruso also has been charged in Tuesday’s armed robbery of Bay Food Store at 1312 Hamilton Road.

Boison’s death struck police officers hard.

“It was personal for them,” Sato said. “All the police officers who work at night knew Peace.”

Boison, a native of Ghana, was well-known by his nickname “Peace.” The station was a popular stopping place for night shift police officers, workers and LaGrange College students. He was the only employee who remained after Sato and his wife, Joyce, purchased the station more than three years ago.

“We inherited him. He was a great one. He was a simple man who loved his mother and wanted to take care of her and his family,” Sato said. “I do not have a single bad memory of him.”

Joyce Sato agreed.

“He was a genuine, spiritual, honest, hard-working man,” she said.

Boison, 55, lived in LaGrange alone. He had extended family in the metro Atlanta area and wanted his wife and daughter to join him.

“He had put his wife and daughter’s name in the lottery to get a green card. He wanted them to be here with him,” Ken Sato said.

The Satos are taking donations to pay for a funeral and burial in LaGrange.

“There is not a relative in Ghana who can receive the body and bury him properly,” Joyce Sato said. “We can give him a service here, and I know people will want to participate.”

The community support has been overwhelming for the Satos. Customers have stopped by since early Saturday to sign a petition in support of Boison. By this morning, more than 700 people had signed it.

“It’s amazing how supportive this community has been,” Ken Sato said. “It’s just sad that it takes a tragedy like this to bring it out.”

— Donations for Joseph “Peace” Boison’s funeral expenses will be accepted at Commercial Bank and Trust and at the Shell Mart at 505 Vernon St. Funeral arrangements will be announced this week.

Sherri Brown can be reached at sbrown@lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 240.