Adrian Hedden, The Republic | azcentral.com

At 36 years old, it was as if life was just beginning for Amanjeet Singh “Sonny” Toor.

His wife, Kamaldeep Kaur, had finally made the move four months ago to Phoenix from India, six years after his own immigration journey.

Toor was friendly, happy and hard-working. Even his customers at the 7-Eleven where he worked thought so.

“He was just starting his life and it was taken away from him,” said Toor’s cousin, Micky Gill. “This person took someone’s life for just a few dollars. I don’t think it was worth it. This family will suffer forever.”

Toor was shot dead early Monday by a masked man during an armed robbery at the convenience store, 1601 E. Southern Ave., in Phoenix. After moving Toor and another employee into a backroom, the robber shot Toor after a struggle for the gun, police said. The assailant then chased the other employee out of the store before returning to grab a bag of unknown contents, police said.

Gill was among the family and friends who met with reporters Thursday morning at Phoenix police headquarters to plead for the public’s help to find Toor’s killer. He said he spoke with customers about Toor the day after his murder.

“This was a very hard loss for us. He was a role model for most of us,” Gill said, as Toor’s widow sat nearby, tears shining on her cheeks. “Sonny was very well-liked, even by the customers. They said he was always joyous. He never got angry about anything.”

Phoenix police didn’t publicly identify Toor as the victim until Thursday, when they also released snippets of surveillance video taken during the robbery. The 7-Eleven Corp. has raised the award to $11,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.

‘We are still not treated right’

A Sikh man from India, Toor was part of a community of about 2,500 to 3,000 Sikh families in the Phoenix metro area.

Rana Singh Sodhi, a Sikh and community activist, spoke on behalf of Toor’s family, calling for the community to come together to find the perpetrator.

“He handed over the money, but was still shot. It begs the question (of racism),” Sodhi said. “We are new immigrants in this area, but we request the community come out and help get this person behind bars.”

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