MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC/Gray News) – A heated altercation between two coworkers at a Kroger distribution center in Tennessee led to the death of a father of five.
The death of 35-year-old Jarcoby Hopson Sr. has left a hole in his family. He was a father of five and an assistant football coach at Lake Cormorant High School in Mississippi, WMC reports.
“Every time he come around, you know you going to get a good laugh, a scene out of him. He was just one of those people everyone wanted to be around,” said the victim’s oldest son, Jarnorris Hopson.
Hopson Sr. was at work around 9 a.m. Thursday at a Kroger distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee, when he began arguing with a coworker, identified as Anderson Todd, for unknown reasons. The two men were shouting profanity at each other.
A witness said Hopson Sr. stepped off his forklift, walked over to Todd and invited him to fight in an area with no cameras. The witness said Todd refused to fight Hopson Sr., and that’s when Hopson Sr. pulled Todd’s skull cap over his face, covering his eyes.
When Todd removed his skull cap from his eyes, he got off the forklift, and the two grabbed each other’s shoulders, pushing and shoving.
A witness told police he saw Todd go into a stabbing motion. Hopson Sr. then said stop stabbing me. The witness got in between the two to stop the fight.
When the fight was over, Hopson Sr. backed away from Todd and then collapsed. Todd walked to the break room and waited for the police.
Todd is charged with second-degree murder. According to an affidavit, he stabbed Hopson Sr. four times.
A spokesperson for Kroger released the following statement regarding the stabbing:
We are deeply saddened by the loss of an associate and tragic incident that occurred at the Memphis distribution center. We have been in contact with the associate’s family and offer our condolences to all impacted by this tragic loss. Counseling services for our associates at the distribution center have been initiated.
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