Insets (clockwise from top left): Alexis Kearney and Antonio Alexander (Shelby County Jail), Kristin Gillia (WHBQ/YouTube).
A woman and her three children in their recently purchased SUV were carjacked and attacked at a Tennessee Burger King, authorities say.
Alexis Kearney, 31, and Antonio Alexander, 25, were arrested in connection with the incident. Kearney has been charged with carjacking, while Alexander faces felony charges of theft of property and theft of a firearm, as well as misdemeanor charges of aggravated assault and assault, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Kristin Gillia was in the drive-thru of the Burger King on Winchester Road in Memphis on Monday night when she realized she didn”t get her full order.
“They forgot the fries,” she told local CBS affiliate WREG. “They said you can pull up. I said let me order a cheeseburger too, I want a little something-something. They said, can you pull around and come inside?”
Gillia did so, bringing her daughter with her but leaving her other two children inside their 2007 Ford Edge, which she said she had bought just four days before. She told Memphis-based Fox affiliate WHBQ that she had instructed the kids to lock the door and then went inside the fast food restaurant.
Suddenly, the kids who were in the Ford Edge ran inside the Burger King and told Gillia that someone was trying to steal their vehicle. The mother ran back to the SUV.
“I ran around and opened the door, and I tried to insert myself into the situation,” Gillia told WREG. “I just got the car. Me and my kids need it.”
She grabbed for her phone but was pushed away, with one of the suspects reportedly saying, “put it in drive.” The suspects drove off, but not before allegedly running over Gillia’s foot and pulling one of her kids from the vehicle and pushing him to the ground.
A witness is said to have found a gun at the scene, and the Ford Edge was found parked on a nearby road, per WHBQ.
Gillia and one of her kids were reportedly treated at an area hospital.
Alexander had a court hearing on Friday, while Kearney is scheduled to have a mental evaluation on March 12.
