Fort Myers community mourns mother killed in gas station attack

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

Co-workers and family of the woman killed in a brutal attack outside of a Fort Myers gas station said they are mourning the loss of the loving mother.

Those who knew the victim said her name was Yasmin, a mother to two teenage daughters who hails from Bangladesh.

A memorial is now growing outside the gas station where she was killed as police continue to put the pieces together with the suspect in jail.

"Everybody, like, right now is sad. You know, you not only me, not only my Bangladeshi community," said M.D. Islam, a member of the local Bangladeshi community in Fort Myers. "Also, all of us people, also around the world. They are very sad to see this news."

A fundraiser set up for the family shows photos of the mother of two, who co-workers and family tell us was always kind to everyone she met. Islam said the mother was just outside moments before the brutal attack.

"She came, and she just did her prayer in the morning," said Islam.

Co-workers said that it was moments before surveillance cameras caught the clerk walking outside after noticing a man smashing in her car windows with a hammer. The video shows the suspect running toward her, hitting her in the head, and killing her. The brutal attack sparked a manhunt that ended with police finding Rolbert Joachin on Mango Street.

"We were not going home until we found him," said Fort Myers Police Chief Jason Fields. "We had, I think, a cop on every single block in the last confirmed area that we saw him, and we used every resource, like I said, from our aviation support, K-9 support, to boots on the ground."

Joachin made his first court appearance this morning. He's being held with no bond. Meanwhile, people like Islam, who also owns a gas station in San Carlos Park, said they still have questions about what led up to this murder.

"I don't know why some people are being crazy. You know, we have no idea," Islam said. "I cannot explain, you know, that this same thing happened everywhere in this world. It's pretty bad right now."

We are still working to learn if the victim and suspect knew each other or if this attack was random. The victim's brother tells us the family wants privacy at this time.

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