BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – The husband of an employee of a Broward County check-cashing store who died after she was shot during a robbery Tuesday afternoon said he feared she would be robbed one day, but never imagined she would be killed.
"She had to go to sleep and wake up early," said husband James Sainvil.
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Sainvil said his wife, 25-year-old Claire Geffrard, worked hard to raise their son and to save for college. He said she left early to open the Check Cashing Store at 2927 W. Sunrise Blvd. where she was a clerk.
Police said Geffrard dialed 911 to report the robbery just before 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
"We got two calls -- one from inside the store, from the clerk, who said they were being robbed, and the clerk apparently called another check-cashing store to tell them that they were being robbed," said Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti. "Deputies responded, and when they got here, shots were fired."
Police said deputies fired back, shooting the suspect, Stanley Beasley , 33, of Lauderhill, in the store's parking lot.
A man who police described as an innocent bystander, 36-year-old Jorge Aguilar , of Tamarac, was near a tire store across the street and also was shot, according to BSO.
When paramedics tried to help Beasley on the ground outside the store, they noticed he had a gun in his hand, police said.
"The suspect on the ground had been wounded," Lamberti said. "The paramedics moved in to try to treat them. They saw they were armed. That suspect was armed on the ground. At that point, they retreated and waited for SWAT to come in."
Nearly two hours after the ordeal began, SWAT officers stormed the store.
"When SWAT team members made entry, there were no other suspects inside the store," Lamberti said. "They found a clerk inside who had been shot."
Geffrard was taken to Broward General Medical Center. Despite trying for more than an hour, doctors were unable to save Geffrard, and she died.
Beasley and Aguilar also were taken to Broward General Medical Center, where they are reported in critical condition.
Officers from BSO and the Fort Lauderdale and Sunrise police departments are investigating.
BSO said Beasley has been arrested in the past on charges of robbery, burglary, grand theft, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.
Sainvil says Beasley has torn his family apart.
"I think this guy's not a human being because -- he doesn't even kill my wife. He kills me, too. He kills my family. Because everybody's in pain," he said.
The young son Sainvil and Geffrard shared will turn a year old next week.
"I know when he grows up he's going to ask for this mother. And I'm going to tell him how his mother passed away," he said.