Lawsuit alleges Johnston Sonic managers helped man who fatally stabbed employee in 2022

The family of a Sonic worker stabbed to death two years ago is now suing the owners of the Johnston store where he worked.

Jermaine Whitaker Moses, 20, was killed March 7, 2022, shortly after arriving for his shift. He was fatally stabbed by Spencer Pierce, 57, who was at the restaurant to confront a coworker of Moses' who his granddaughter, also a Sonic worker, alleged had sexually harassed her. Pierce later was convicted of first-degree murder.

During Pierce's trial, jurors heard recordings of several Sonic managers speaking with Pierce before the attack and agreeing to let him wait to confront the alleged harasser. Now two lawsuits — one by Moses' mother as administrator of his estate, and one by the mother of one of Moses' two children — accuse the store of gross negligence for not only failing to protect its employee, but egging on the man who killed him.

The lawsuits, filed in February, name several Sonic supervisors as defendants, as well as multiple corporate entities and holding companies connected to Texas-based CMG companies, a nationwide franchise hotel, retail and restaurant operator. The defendants have not yet responded in court, and CMG did not reply to messages seeking comment.

A lawyer for Ashleigh Buls, who is suing on behalf of her and Moses' young daughter, declined to comment beyond what's in her complaint. Attorney F. Montgomery Brown, representing Moses' mother, Na'imah Holmes, said in a statement the family continues to be devastated by his death.

"Jermaine was a spark full of life to his mother and brothers and sisters," Brown said. "By all accounts he was excited to be going to work at Sonic on March 7, 2022. His mother stands by the allegations that if not for the gross negligence of Sonic, her son’s agonizing death would not have occurred at his job. He had much to contribute and is missed dearly."

What happened at Sonic?

As laid out in trial testimony, Pierce, a former boxer who'd had a previous murder conviction overturned, came to Sonic with his granddaughter to complain about allegedly inappropriate messages she had received from a coworker. In the conversations, which were recorded, Sonic supervisors agreed the messages were unacceptable and said the alleged harasser, who has not been criminally charged, would be fired.

They also told Pierce the worker and his friend Moses were scheduled to be there later that day, and assistant manager Jarod White was recorded telling Pierce which parts of the property were not surveilled by security cameras.

White, who has been charged which conspiracy in Moses' death, is named as a defendant in both suits. Pierce also spoke by phone with store general manager James Carroll, who is named as a defendant in Buls' complaint.

After speaking with the managers, Pierce waited at the restaurant until the two arrived, then followed them inside. Video footage shows him chasing the alleged harasser through and around the building, then back into the kitchen, where he came face-to-face with Moses and stabbed him.

Pierce argued the stabbing was justified, testifying at trial that Moses had threatened him and his granddaughter. But another Sonic employee standing just feet away testified she had heard no such threats, and surveillance video did not show, as Pierce claimed, that Moses had punched him first.

Pierce is serving life in prison without parole.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Sonic franchisee sued over Johnston employee's 2022 murder