A late-night argument over a missing order of onion rings ended with a 32-year-old Steak ‘n Shake employee dead at the drive-thru window where she had worked for only a few months, and her family now demanding the death penalty for the woman accused of pulling the trigger.
Chauncia Lashell Meekins was working the window at the Steak ‘n Shake in the 11000 block of Bellefontaine Road in Spanish Lake, Missouri, around 11:35 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, when a customer in a white SUV opened fire through the window, St. Louis County police said. Meekins was pronounced dead at the scene. A male co-worker was shot in the hand and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The shooting, captured on the restaurant’s surveillance cameras, unfolded over a fast-food complaint. According to court records, the driver disputed her food order at the window — specifically, a second order of onion rings she said she did not receive. The exchange escalated when the driver hurled her drink at Meekins. Meekins threw it back. Then, police say, the driver drew a handgun and fired several shots.
Charges Filed Nearly Two Weeks Later
St. Louis County prosecutors on Monday, April 20, charged 20-year-old Jada Bell with six felonies in the case: first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon. Bell appeared in court Tuesday and is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond with no 10% option. A bond hearing is scheduled for April 28.
Detectives said the arrest came after painstaking work that leaned heavily on cellphone tracking and surveillance technology. Investigators placed Bell’s phone in the area at the time of the shooting and traced her movements that day, according to First Alert 4. Police believe a second person may have been inside the SUV. The firearm has not been recovered, and authorities said Bell has not cooperated with the investigation.
Police have characterized the killing as a random encounter. There were no known prior incidents between Bell and Meekins, and family members said Meekins had never had any trouble at the restaurant during her short tenure there.
A Mother’s Disbelief
Meekins, who also held a job at Family Dollar, was just over two weeks shy of her 33rd birthday. Her mother, Tamela Washington, told KMOV that the two had spoken hours before the shooting about plans for a birthday meal.
“Her birthday is April 23,” Washington said. “Instead of celebrating her birthday, I will be burying my daughter for some senseless act over some onion rings.”
Washington described her daughter as “loving, caring, sweet-hearted,” a woman who held down two jobs and minded her own business. “She didn’t bother nobody,” she told NewsNation.
Meekins’ father, Chauncey Lovell Meekins, said he found a strange peace looking at his daughter at the funeral home, learning the suspect had been charged the day before her burial. The funeral was held April 21, one day after a candlelight vigil outside the restaurant where dozens of relatives and friends released balloons in her memory.
Family Pushes for Death Penalty
At the vigil, relatives delivered an unflinching message: they want prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Bell. Anthony Willhite, Meekins’ cousin, framed the demand as a stand against escalating everyday violence.
“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 type of senseless violence out here; it doesn’t make sense,” Willhite said, according to Fox 8. He added that the randomness of the attack should chill anyone who has ever pulled into a drive-thru: “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 Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith offered no commitment Tuesday on whether her office would pursue capital punishment. She explained that decisions about seeking the death penalty originate with the assigned homicide team, which drafts a memo and meets with her — a process, she said, that has not yet occurred in this case.
Investigation Continues
Detectives are still working to determine whether anyone else was in the SUV with Bell and to recover the weapon used. Police are asking anyone with information to contact the St. Louis County Police Department at 636-529-8210 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-371-TIPS (8477).
For the family Meekins left behind, the procedural questions feel small next to the central one her mother has asked since the night of April 8 — the question that still has no answer. “Who kills somebody over onion rings?”