The Cracker Barrel Victim’s Mother Speaks Out

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Not only did Friday’s Cracker Barrel shooting rock the “Friendly City,” it also packed a huge punch to Shardae Lajoie and her family.

Kimberly Adams received a phone call that she says will stick with her the rest of her life.

“My daughter called me and I was babysitting her daughter. She called me frantic, screaming. I’m hearing people screaming in the background saying ‘help, help.’ I’m like, ‘what’s going on?’ and she was like, ‘mom I need you to get up here he came up here’,” said Adams.

He, was 28-year old Robert Beck, Shardae Lajoie’s ex-boyfriend who appeared at her job looking for her, and in the process of looking for her, he shot the manager of Cracker Barrel in Columbus.

Adams says several thoughts rushed to her mind as she sprung into action.

“I know what type of guy this is. My daughter made it clear that he has not been captured so I’m thinking he’s going to come by here anything because Cracker Barrel is just right up the street so I was really scared. But I said, ‘I have to go. I have to be with my daughter no matter what,'” said Adams.

In a press conference, Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton said Beck had a criminal history.

Adams says from the time Beck and her daughter met, sadly, his behavior appeared to be leading to a boiling point.

“They met about a year and a half ago and before I knew it, he had moved in without asking or saying anything. This particular morning, I get up. My daughter is at work. My son is at work. My grand babies at daycare, and I hear somebody in my daughter’s room and it’s him in there laying in the bed watching TV eating a bowl of cereal. That’s when I told him you have to leave and that’s when I experienced the violence. He threatened to do bodily harm to me. He cussed me and everything he could think of,” said Adams.

Before the accident, Adams says Shardae was going through therapy. She will also attend counseling after Friday’s incident.

Adams says if she has one message for girls in a situation like Shardae’s, that’s to pay attention to the red flag.

“Unfortunately, these females think they can help fix the guy. That was my daughter’s words. She thought she could help fix him. You can’t help fix nobody but yourself and you can’t even hardly do that. My advice is from the first moment of verbal or physical abuse run,” said Adams.

Cracker Barrel released a statement saying how proud they are with the fast safe actions of the employees mentioning that they are the true heroes.