
Jada Bell. Image source: St. Louis County (Mo.) Justice Center

'It's never that serious to take a person's life over fast food.'
A murder charge was filed Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of a St. Louis-area Steak 'n Shake worker at the fast-food restaurant's drive-through window earlier this month — allegedly after an argument over onion rings, KMOV-TV reported.
Shortly after prosecutors announced the murder charge in the case, family members of the victim — Chauncia Meekins — gathered for a vigil outside the Steak 'n Shake in Spanish Lake, Missouri, where she was shot and killed on the night of April 8, KMOV reported. Spanish Lake is about a half hour north of St. Louis.
'Chauncia just so happened to be in harm's way; this could have been anyone's child, at the convenience store buying potato chips, at the gas station taking too long at the pump.'
St. Louis County prosecutors said 20-year-old Jada Bell is charged with six felonies in the case, including murder and armed criminal action, the station said.
"I saw my daughter as she's getting ready to be laid to rest. She looked beautiful, she looked happy, right, and I didn't know why, but now I know why she is happy ... because her crime has been solved," Chauncey Lovell Meekins, Chauncia's father, told KMOV.
Family members added to KMOV that the arrest, while it doesn't bring Meekins back, does set in motion the chance for accountability.
"As a family, as a whole, we will be pushing for the death penalty — not for revenge, but to set an example because we need to stop this senseless violence out here," Anthony Willhite, Meekins' cousin, told the station.
Willhite added to KMOV that the violence could happen to anyone, anywhere: "Chauncia just so happened to be in harm's way; this could have been anyone's child, at the convenience store buying potato chips, at the gas station taking too long at the pump."
Jail records indicate Bell's next court date is scheduled for Tuesday. A previous KMOV story said Bell was being held on a $1 million, cash-only, no 10% bond.
The station, citing court records, said Bell pulled up to the Steak 'n Shake drive-through window and had a dispute with employees, including Meekins, over her food order.
KMOV said Bell threw her drink at Meekins, who threw it back at her — and then Bell fired several shots from a handgun at Meekins, who died as a result of the shooting.
Another person was shot in the hand, the station said, adding that the shooting was recorded on surveillance video from the restaurant. Bell's phone was in the area at the time of the shooting, KMOV added.
Meekins' mother, Tamela Washington, told the station the argument was over onion rings: "It's never that serious to take a person's life over fast food."
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