Second suspect arrested in shooting death of Burger King employee over drive-thru delay, deputies say
Orange County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested the wife of the man who shot and killed a 22-year-old Burger King employee last weekend, an agency spokesperson said Wednesday.
Burger King employee Desmond Joshua Jr. was shot and killed in the restaurant’s parking lot Saturday two days into the job after a disgruntled customer, angry at the long wait in the drive-thru line, summoned her husband to the business to fight Joshua, according to an affidavit released by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Ashley Mason, 31, was arrested Wednesday on charges of principal to first degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Her husband, 37-year-old Kelvis Rodríguez Tormes, was arrested Sunday on charges of first-degree murder with a firearm, destruction of evidence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Witnesses said Mason was waiting for her food in the drive-thru line of a Burger King at 7623 East Colonial Drive around 7 p.m. when she became “particularly irate” over the long wait, an affidavit said.
She got out of her car and yelled at a manager, threatening to bring her “man” to the restaurant. Mason was refunded and told to leave, but surveillance footage shows she waited in the parking lot for Rodríguez Tormes, who arrived in a white SGL Constructors truck, according to the affidavit.
At the restaurant, Rodríguez Tormes demanded to fight the drive-thru cashier, Joshua. Joshua walked out of the restaurant and began fighting with Rodríguez Tormes in the parking lot.
In a cell phone video captured by a bystander, Rodríguez Tormes yells, “Bust him if he touches me” during the fight, the affidavit said.
A manager separated the two after Rodríguez Tormes put Joshua in a headlock, but Rodríguez Tormes asked Mason to hand him a gun from his truck, deputies said.
Mason told deputies she gave her husband the gun before pulling out of the parking lot, and she heard a gunshot and saw Joshua hit the ground before she returned home frightened, the affidavit said.
Witnesses said they saw Mason point the gun at a group of Burger King employees before giving it to Rodríguez Tormes and that she tried to hit Joshua with her car before leaving.
In an interview with deputies, Rodríguez Tormes said he warned Joshua to back away a couple times before shooting him from around four to six feet away.
A witness saw Joshua back up from Rodríguez Tormes’ truck with his hands raised, saying, “All I wanted to do was talk” and “If you really want to fight, step out of the car” prior to being shot, the affidavit said.
Rodríguez Tormes told deputies he “destroyed” the gun after shooting Joshua. His wife said he returned home afterward and told her, “I messed up.”
Joshua died at AdventHealth Orlando East that evening.
krice@orlandosentinel.com
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