Laquitta Willis Decatur Ga. store clerk killed over face mask policy by Victor Lee Tucker after objectying to being told to wear his face mask correctly inside grocery store.
A 41-year-old Georgia woman has been identified as the cashier killed at a Decatur grocery store after having told a customer that they needed to adhere the grocery store’s face mask outlet, only to be fatally shot.
Laquitta Willis was working as a cashier at the Big Bear grocery store in Decatur where DeKalb County Police say 30 year old man, Victor Lee Tucker of Palmetto got into a dispute with the woman over the store’s mask policy.
Authorities say the Tucker, Jr who has a long crime history rap sheet, left the store without buying any of his items, only to soon return and shot her. An exchange of gunfire between an off duty deputy working security ensued where both deputy Danny Jordan, 54, and the suspect suffered gunshot wounds.
The bulletproof vest he was wearing saved his life, Sheriff Melody Maddox said in a news conference Monday. Tucker who incurred gunshot wounds was taken to hospital and was expected to survive, with officials saying he faced charges of murder and two counts of aggravated assault according to 11Alive.
Despite best efforts to save her, Laquitta Willis died at Grady Memorial Hospital on Monday evening.
‘She was a kind, loving, human being …’
The incident left the community dumbfounded and troubled.
‘Our hearts and prayers go out to the Willis family, the injured sheriff’s deputy and everyone impacted by yesterday’s senseless incident,’ the DeKalb County Police Department said in a statement.
The store owner told 11Alive that the man was wearing a mask, but that Willis simply asked him to pull it over his face.
The owner said Monday night that Willis was a kind, loving, human being, who simply asked a customer–the suspect–to pull up his face mask.
Employees described Willis as an integral figure in the store.
‘She was like management to me,’ former worker Dora Crawford told AJC, adding that she had worked alongside the late cashier for a year. ‘I looked up to her as management. She worked customer service, she trained cashiers and everything. She’s just a good person all around.’
Crawford said that coming across irate customers at the store was not unusual.
‘Some people had attitude problems…’
‘We had to deal with a lot of different people coming in,’ she said. ‘Some people had attitude problems and stuff and they get smart with us, but we have to ignore that because we have to do our job.’
When conflicts arise in the supermarket, Crawford said, the employees depend on a security guard to come to their aid.
‘They’re here to protect us, and they’ve done a wonderful job at doing it,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what happened yesterday.’
Come Tuesday, the store on Candler Road was closed for business, but its doors were open for people coming to grieve and lament their loss.
Upon his release from hospital, Tucker will be booked into the DeKalb County Jail on counts of malice murder, aggravated assault on an officer and aggravated assault with intent to murder.
