Tim Hortons Employee Cleared of Charges in Death of 75-Year-Old Customer

In a decision announced by the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office, no criminal charges will be filed against the employee involved in the death of 75‑year‑old Anita Grayson after a physical altercation at a Tim Hortons in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Grayson’s death, ruled an acute exacerbation of congestive heart failure, followed a confrontation that began on May 13 when she placed an order through the drive‑thru and returned about seven minutes later to dispute the receipt at the front counter.

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According to the prosecutor’s investigative report, the dispute turned violent when Grayson engaged a 17‑year‑old employee in a verbal exchange. A shift manager, who later identified as Employee 1, stepped between the parties to defend the minor. The confrontation escalated; Grayson shoved and struck the manager, and both fell to the floor, continuing to grapple until coworkers intervened to separate them.

Law enforcement arrived shortly after the struggle. Officers found Grayson inside the restaurant, evaluated and treated her on site before transporting her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The Allen County coroner certified the manner of death as undetermined, concluding that Grayson sustained no significant contributory injuries.

The investigation reviewed security footage, 911 recordings, dispatch logs, and witness reports. Surveillance video confirmed that Grayson was the first to push and hit the manager before both parties fell and continued to scuffle on the floor. Four employee witnesses and one customer provided accounts that matched the video evidence.

"This is a heartbreaking situation for everyone involved and especially for Ms. Grayson's family,"

Allen County Prosecutor's Office, via madamenoire.com

In her witness statement, the shift manager recounted that Grayson called her a little white b–ch before attempting to swing toward the minor employee. The manager placed her hands on Grayson's shoulders to stop her from reaching the teen. Grayson then struck the manager on the left side of her nose, grabbed her hair, dragged her through the employee doors, scratched her face, knocked off her glasses, and pulled a clump of hair from the manager’s scalp, which she later placed in her bag.

The manager sustained bruising, facial scratches, and a substantial area of hair forcibly pulled from her scalp. The juvenile employee reported that after the altercation, Grayson lowered herself to the floor in the dining area, appeared to have a seizure‑like episode, and refused offers of water, telling staff to leave her alone.

Medical examination findings were inconclusive. The coroner noted that Grayson had no significant contributory injuries, while 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.

In evaluating the case, the prosecutor’s office determined that Grayson, not the employee, escalated the encounter to violence and did so disproportionately to the minimal contact that preceded it. The employee’s use of force was deemed justified first as defense of a minor coworker and then as self‑defense, and it did not exceed what the ongoing struggle reasonably called for. The record does not establish that any conduct at the restaurant caused Grayson’s death to the degree of certainty required by law.

Under Indiana law, the state cannot proceed unless it can disprove legal justification beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecutor’s office concluded that, on this record, it could not meet that burden, and thus no criminal charges will be filed against the Tim Hortons employee.