Inset left: Terry Connor Jr. (Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office). Inset middle: Steven Staples (Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office). Inset right: Scott Brooks (McEwen Funeral Service-Mint Hill Chapel). Background: Brooks Sandwich Shop in Charlotte, North Carolina (Google Maps).
Two North Carolina, men accused of robbing and killing a beloved sandwich shop owner in Charlotte have been tied to a separate murder case.
Terry Connor Jr. and Steven Staples have both been charged with murder in the death of 61-year-old Scott Brooks.
The defendants — believed to be ages 35 and 37, respectively — appeared in court for their trial this week, where the complete set of allegations against them finally came to light.
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On Dec. 19, 2019, Brooks was arriving at the restaurant that he co-owned, Brooks Sandwich House, when two men wearing hooded sweatshirts approached him with guns drawn. The men took about $100 from his wallet, and surveillance footage showed him speaking with the two suspects, according to local Fox affiliate WGHP.
Brooks pulled out his own weapon and fired at the men, who returned fire and killed him, according to authorities. The defendants are believed to have targeted the sandwich shop because the business only dealt with cash.
Connor and Staples are alleged to have been the two men. And as they appeared in court this week, prosecutors attempted to tie them to a double murder that happened just weeks after Brooks was killed.
On Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, Siojvon Joseph and Asa Shannon — both 35 — were found dead from gunshot wounds in a vehicle down an embankment in Charlotte. Staples and Connor's brother, Everette Connor, are believed to have killed them.
Prosecutors made a point of bringing up this case during the trial this week in an attempt to showcase a spree of violence enacted by Staples and the Connor siblings.
Police officers searched a home near the scene of Joseph's and Shannon's deaths and found it ransacked, with hidden cellphones, weapons, and food strewn throughout, evidence that authorities have tried to use to tie the men to both cases, according to local ABC affiliate WSOC.
Both Terry Connor and Staples have pleaded not guilty to murdering Brooks.
Prosecutors are expected to rest their case next week.
The case involving the deaths of Joseph and Shannon is still pending.
Brooks is remembered in his obituary as having made friends easily.
"Many of the friends he made were customers he had met along the way at Brooks' Sandwich House which he co-owns with his brother Dave, established by his father CT in 1973," the remembrance reads. "Our family will cherish the stories and memories often conveyed in conversation with Scott about the diverse people he encountered at the shop."
