Family Remembers Tulsa Shell Station Shooting Victim

It took only four seconds for a man to end Peggy Gaytan's life as she worked behind the counter at a mid-town Tulsa Shell Station. Her family is left to pick up the pieces.

Monday, January 23rd 2012, 2:56 pm

By: News On 6

Family Remembers Tulsa Shell Station Shooting Victim

One month after a Tulsa convenience store clerk was shot and killed police are still looking for answers.

Just a few days ago, detectives released new surveillance footage from that night inside the Shell gas station at 36th and Harvard.

They've gotten some fresh tips, but police are no closer to finding the suspects.

A clerk at the Shell station says customers come in every day and ask -- what happened to Peggy Gaytan? And so far, no one has the answers -- including her ex-husband who is now helping raise their 5-year-old granddaughter.

Police call it a botched robbery that turned into murder Peggy Gaytan, 55, was killed just days before Christmas.

Two masked men approached the gas station door. One went in and shot Peggy while the other ran away.

All it took was four seconds.

"I'd be so glad if they catch them, yes," said Greg Gaytan, Peggy's ex-husband. "She didn't do nothing to nobody. Nothing."

Greg Gaytan says Peggy worked at several convenience stores over the years and loved getting to know her customers.

"I met her at a convenience store," Greg said. "I stopped and got gasoline, and she was there. We talked, and we got together."

Greg and Peggy were married for 24 years. The relationship ended in divorce, but they were still friendly.

When Peggy decided to take in and raise her granddaughter Summer, Greg says he shared the parenting duties.

"She knows. She knows what happened. She knows how it happened. Every time she sees something like that she says, 'Oh, I don't like those criminals,'" he said of his granddaughter.

Tulsa Police want to talk to a man who was seen browsing the store just before closing time. Detectives say he walked around the store -- but didn't buy anything -- and may be driving a Toyota Highlander.

Officers hope he can lead them to Peggy's killers.

"If they are not caught, they will hurt somebody else - if they haven't yet," said Greg Gaytan, the victim's ex-husband.

"And maybe find out why. Find out why they did that."

"Like Summer says, 'Por que, Papa?'" he said. "She asks me, 'Por que, Papa?' No se, bebe, no se." ("Why, Papa," "I don't know.")

In the meantime, Greg's helping a friend of Peggy's raise the 5-year-old girl.

"I'm trying to get full custody of her because she is my granddaughter. And I myself - I've got nobody," he said.

Peggy Gaytan always set aside some of her salary for a college fund for her granddaughter. So now, the Shell station is taking donations at the register to keep that fund going.

If you recognize any of the men in the photos taken from the store's security video, call 918-596-COPS.