Man Killed By Taco Bell Coworker: 'My Son Didn’t Deserve To Die'

CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI — A young man was fatally shot by a Taco Bell coworker who was experiencing homelessness and had been staying with the victim, according to reports.

Olufemi “Louis” Stafford worked with Dejon Allen Drake, who had been sleeping outside near the Chesterfield Township restaurant, and invited Drake to stay with him for a few days, according to the Macomb Daily. But things quickly deteriorated — Drake threatened Stafford at work and Stafford asked Drake to leave, the newspaper reported.

An argument broke out early July 29, followed by a physical altercation, and Chesterfield Township officers responded to the Aspen Creek Apartments, where they found the 27-year-old bleeding from a bullet wound and lying on the ground, police said. Drake, 24, of Eastpointe, was quickly taken into custody, according to police.

“My son didn’t deserve to die,” Stafford’s mother, Leola Stafford, told the Daily. “He was helping a coworker who was down on his luck. He had a good heart. He was doing a good deed and didn’t have to die for this.”

Louis Stafford had recently been promoted to a manager at Taco Bell, the Daily reported. He loved cats and had a sense of humor, according to WJBK.

His family has started a GoFundMe to collect donations to buy him a suit and support loved ones as they grieve, according to the fundraiser.

Leola Stafford told the Daily that she, her teenage daughter and Louis Stafford’s girlfriend plan to move to Minnesota to be close to Leola Stafford’s sole surviving son after the mother lost her 32-year-old son two years ago from complications of diabetes and COVID-19, and, now, Louis.

Drake is charged with second-degree murder, felony firearm and carrying a concealed weapon, according to police, who said his bond is set at $2 million.