Antwoine McCantsshot and killed a man amid a parking dispute at a Shake Shack restaurant near the University of Cincinnati. A jury must now decide whether the shooting was self-defense.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys made opening statements on Sept. 23 in the trial of McCants, 56, in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
He's charged with murder and felonious assault counts for the June 2025 killing of 41-year-old Christopher Stallworth
.Prosecutor says 'misunderstanding' over parking spot led to killing
Prosecutors said the two men first met on the street outside the restaurant. McCants and his wife stopped their three-wheeled motorcycles in a travel lane to back into a parking space. That's when they encountered Stallworth and his fiancée, who claimed McCants flashed a gun at her.
Stallworth went inside the
restaurant to confront McCants about what happened on the street. While they were talking, McCants aimed a gun at Stallworth and pulled the trigger, prosecutors said. The gun didn't go off because there wasn't a round in the chamber, so McCants racked the gun and fired, striking Stallworth in the chest.
Stallworth staggered outside onto the restaurant's patio and collapsed in the bushes. First responders rushed him to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he died of his wounds.
"A misunderstanding over a parking spot did not have to end with Christopher Stallworth's death," Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Jackie Stachowiak said in court. "It ended that way because Antwoine McCants chose to pull and fire a gun."
Stachowiak said that witnesses never saw Stallworth pull out a gun, with some describing him as unarmed. She added that McCants admitted to police that he didn't see Stallworth with a gun. The shooting was also captured on surveillance cameras inside the restaurant.
Man who opened fired in Shake Shack 'feared for his safety,' attorney says
McCants' attorneys argued that Stallworth had no intention of ordering food and went inside only for a confrontation.
Lindsay Arway, one of the attorneys, said Stallworth stalked McCants throughout the restaurant after McCants and his wife placed their order. She told the jury that Stallworth was "intending to retaliate" for the encounter on the street.
Stallworth sat across from McCants while talking on the phone, telling someone on the other end to "get on down" to Shake Shack because a "dude with a gun threatened my girl," Arway said.
She added that Stallworth eventually approached McCants and accused him of threatening his fiancée with a gun, which McCants denies.
McCants pulled out a gun at the same time Stallworth was removing his hand from his pocket, Arway said.
"He wasn't intending to use the firearm," she said. "The only reason that he pulled that out was because he feared for his safety."
Arway said that McCants left the restaurant still concerned for his well-being, called 911 and flagged down University of Cincinnati police shortly after the shooting.
"I just shot someone," McCants said in the 911 call. He told police that he felt threatened and, while he didn't see a gun, Stallworth was pulling something out of his right front pocket.
Eyewitnesses' recanted statement to police becomes issue at trial
The case experienced an unexpected wrinkle in the days before prosecutors and defense attorneys delivered their opening remarks, as a key eyewitness to the shooting changed her story about Stallworth being armed.
Atiya Muhammadel, Stallworth's fiancée, initially told police that she was armed and pulled out a gun on the night of the shooting. However, prosecutors said she told officers a different story before being called to testify at trial, now saying Stallworth brought her gun into the restaurant but never pulled it out.
Muhammadel said in court that she didn't know Stallworth was carrying the handgun until it fell out of his pocket as he collapsed outside the restaurant. She said she doesn't know how Stallworth got ahold of the gun.
She added that she picked the weapon up to return fire on McCants, who had already left the restaurant.
McCants' attorneys said in a court filing that Muhammadel removed the gun from Stallworth's right front pocket because the man was on parole after serving prison time for robbery.
Judge Christopher McDowell, who is presiding over the case, asked Muhammadel if she knew that Stallworth was on parole and prohibited from owning a gun. She said no.
"This witness has lied and I don't expect her to tell the truth at any point in time," said Brandon Moermond, another attorney representing McCants.
Prosecutors argued there's no evidence she tried to hide the gun and police later found it on the restaurant's patio.
The trial is expected to continue this week with additional witness testimony. McCants' attorneys signaled that their client intends to testify after prosecutors rest their case.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Jury to decide if Shake Shack shooting was murder or self-defense
