Black Woman, 75, Died After Tim Hortons’ Fight, No Charges Filed

An Indiana Tim Hortons employee will not face criminal charges after a 75-year-old woman died following a physical altercation with the worker at the fast-food restaurant. 

Three months ago, Anita Grayson died of acute exacerbation of congestive heart failure after the encounter with an employee at the Tim Hortons in Fort Wayne. Now, the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office has determined that “criminal charges will not be filed” as a result of the incident. 

“This is a heartbreaking situation for everyone involved and especially for Ms. Grayson’s family,” officials wrote in a social media statement. “We have given this case a fair and thorough review, and evaluated it on the evidence and the law, the same standard we apply to every case that comes before this office.”

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A report outlining the evidence reviewed in the investigation, including security footage, witness reports, 911 recordings, dispatch records, and more, states that, on May 13, Grayson ordered food through the drive-thru window before returning approximately seven minutes later to dispute the order at the front counter. 

The prosecutor’s office details that upon Grayson’s return, the senior citizen and a 17-year-old employee got into a verbal exchange that escalated before a second employee (Employee 1) intervened to defend the minor. 

“The confrontation turned physical: Grayson shoved and struck Employee 1, the two fell to the floor and continued struggling and coworkers separated them,” read the report. After officers arrived at the scene, Grayson “was evaluated and treated inside the restaurant before being transported to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.”

Surveillance footage from inside the store later confirmed that Grayson was the first to push and hit the first employee before both of them fell on the floor and continued to grapple, according to the report. Four employee witnesses and a customer witness, who were interviewed separately, also gave accounts that matched with each other and with the video. 

The adult employee claimed in her witness statement that Grayson called her a “little white b–ch” before attempting to swing around her toward the minor employee. After she placed both hands on Grayson’s shoulders to hold her back, the elder allegedly punched her in the face, grabbed her hair, and dragged her through the employee doors. 

Investigators later observed that the employee had bruises, scratches on her face, and a substantial area of hair ripped from her scalp. 

Following the altercation, the juvenile employee recalled that Grayson appeared to lower herself to the floor in the dining area. , According to the report, they did not believe Grayson collapsed involuntarily.

“[Employee 1] was later advised that Grayson had gone to the floor, and said she personally observed Grayson appearing to have what she described as a seizure,” stated the report. “When coworkers offered water, Grayson told them to leave her alone.”

Following Grayson’s death, the coroner’s certification of her manner of death was undetermined after concluding that she sustained no significant contributory injuries. Therefore, the medical examiner could not “say with reasonable medical certainty that the altercation caused her death rather than her preexisting congestive heart failure running its course under stress.”

The State could not disprove the justification defense beyond a reasonable doubt; therefore, the evidence resulted in the decision that no criminal charges would be filed against the Tim Horton’s employees. 

“Grayson, not Employee 1, escalated the encounter to violence, and did so disproportionately to the minimal contact that preceded it,” detailed the report. “Employee 1’s use of force was justified first as defense of a minor coworker and then self-defense, and it did not exceed what the ongoing struggle reasonably called for.”

“Nor does the record establish that any conduct at the restaurant caused Grayson’s death to the degree of certainty the law requires,” the report concluded. “Under Indiana law, the State cannot proceed unless it can disprove legal justification beyond a reasonable doubt, and on this record it cannot.”