A woman was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2024 fatal shooting of a fast food employee that allegedly occurred over a drive-thru order.
Monica Williams pleaded guilty on Friday, September 18, to second-degree murder in the death of Anitra West, who was killed outside of a Church’s Texas Chicken in Memphis in July 2024, according to the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.
Following Williams’ guilty plea, she was handed her 30-year sentence, the district attorney’s office said in a Monday, September 21, news release. In addition to second-degree murder, Williams pleaded guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Williams was accused of killing West outside of the Church’s Chicken located on Park Avenue in Memphis’ Orange Mound neighborhood on July 8, 2024.
According to prosecutors, Williams and West “had an exchange involving a food order in the drive-thru” while West had been working.
Williams left following the exchange without paying for or grabbing her order, but later returned and shot West outside of the fast food establishment while she was outside for some fresh air, prosecutors said. West, who was 48, ultimately died at a hospital.
West’s friend, who had been on the phone with West when she was shot, told police she heard a customer yell “I will kill you!” to West over the phone, WHBQ-TV reported.
West’s co-worker had called 911 that evening to report the shooting, according to WMC-TV.
The Memphis Police Department reportedly said Williams and West had a “dispute over a food order” while Williams was in the Church’s Chicken drive-thru. The women didn’t know each other prior to the incident.
Williams was prosecuted by Shelby County Associate Deputy District Attorney Monica Timmerman.
Information on her legal representation wasn’t immediately available.
Following West’s death, her father, Bruce Stevens, told WMC-TV in 2024 that “Anitra had a personality that could just fill the room.”
Stevens and Anthonette Stevens, who was West’s mother, said that she was one of their six children. They also shared that West was killed after the family had recently taken a trip that West missed due to work.
“Her standards for working are being there, being on time, and doing what she needs to do,” Anthonette Stevens told the TV station. “Being there for the customers and also her employees, she didn’t want to leave people in a lurch all the time. Working in food service is difficult, but she never seemed to tire of it, just kept doing it and doing it.”
