The victim, 66-year-old Ahmad Alkhalaf of Sachse, was shot during a November 2024 iPhone meetup in Oak Cliff; two teens have taken plea deals.
DALLAS — The grandmother of a Dallas teenager involved in a fatal Facebook Marketplace robbery has issued a public apology to the victim’s family, saying she contacted a local reporter to “do the right thing” after her granddaughter received a decades-long sentence. The emotional message came nearly a year after 66-year-old Ahmad Alkhalaf was killed during a planned phone sale in Oak Cliff.
Authorities said the meetup, set for an iPhone sale on a November afternoon in 2024, was instead a staged robbery that ended with Alkhalaf fatally shot at a gas station near I-35 and South Marsalis Avenue. Prosecutors said two teenagers were responsible: 19-year-old Amaya Medrano, identified as the shooter, and 18-year-old Annika Aleman, accused of arranging the ambush. Both later accepted plea deals—Medrano to 55 years in prison and Aleman to 37—closing the criminal case but not the grief. On Thursday, with sentences set, the grandmother stepped forward publicly to apologize, adding a personal history with violence that she said shaped her response.
In an interview, Aleman’s grandmother, Sheila Dena, said she sought out the station and prosecutors on her own, asking to share remorse directly with Alkhalaf’s family. “I am so incredibly sorry for what my granddaughter did,” Dena said, noting she understood the weight of the loss because her own brother was robbed and killed decades ago. Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Alicia Patterson said such outreach from a relative is rare in cases involving severe charges and described Dena as “so apologetic” to the family. Prosecutors emphasized the crime’s simplicity and senselessness: a man lured to sell a phone in broad daylight, a robbery planned by teenagers, and a gunshot that ended a life and shattered a family.
Investigators said Alkhalaf, a husband and father from Sachse, drove to the Oak Cliff station after listing an iPhone on Facebook Marketplace. The meetup took place in the middle of the day, according to case summaries, and witnesses and evidence helped detectives identify suspects within days. Police arrested Medrano first; weeks later, a second arrest followed as detectives tied messages and planning to Aleman. In court, prosecutors described Medrano as the shooter and Aleman as the organizer. Both defendants entered guilty pleas this fall, prosecutors said, sparing Alkhalaf’s family a trial. Unknowns remain about the precise moments leading up to the shot—what words were exchanged, whether Alkhalaf resisted, and how long the encounter lasted—but officials said the plan was robbery from the start.
Records and earlier reports show the case rattled parts of southern Dallas, where gas stations and parking lots frequently serve as informal meeting spots for online sales. The shooting added to a string of high-profile theft and robbery cases linked to social media marketplaces in North Texas. In response, police departments have promoted “safe exchange zones” in station lobbies and monitored lots. Prosecutors said the plea deals reflected the evidence and the family’s desire for finality after months of hearings. The judge’s orders, combined with Texas parole rules, mean Medrano faces decades behind bars; Aleman, though not the shooter, also faces a long sentence under state law for her role in planning the robbery.
Court officials said the criminal case is now resolved, with no further court dates scheduled in Dallas County for Medrano or Aleman. Any civil action has not been announced. Prosecutors said they are preparing routine post-sentencing paperwork and will file victim impact documents as part of the record. No additional arrests are expected. The district attorney’s office will brief Alkhalaf’s family on any future filings, including parole notifications years from now. If appeals arise, they would be limited by the plea agreements. For now, the case remains in the post-conviction phase, with both defendants in state custody.
At the Oak Cliff station where the shooting occurred, customers came and went Friday as traffic moved along the frontage road. A woman filling her tank shook her head and said she remembered the day sirens converged. “Daylight, people everywhere, and this still happened,” she said. Dena, who described herself as a woman of faith with experience volunteering in prison ministry, said she hopes her granddaughter will one day help others. “What she did was horrible,” Dena said. “But I believe there can still be change.” Patterson said the family’s pain remains the focus: “A father is gone over a phone,” she said.
As of Saturday, Dallas police consider the case closed with both teens sentenced; prosecutors said the next milestone is the routine transfer of certified judgments to the state prison system this week. Alkhalaf’s relatives have not announced any public events.
Author note: Last updated November 15, 2025.