Surveillance footage captured a white Circle K clerk in Ohio hurling objects at a pregnant minister before charging around the counter to viciously assault her over the pettiest dispute regarding rewards points. While the clerk faced criminal charges, a conviction just isn’t enough, as the victim is now seeking a different form of justice.
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Minister Deria Francis was traveling to Detroit for a church conference with her husband, Pastor Dathan Stukes, and their two children on May 23. The South Carolina family stopped at a Circle K in Bowling Green, Ohio, about two hours west of Cleveland, for gas. Inside, Francis forgot to add her Circle K rewards points to her purchase, so she asked clerk Shannon Walsh to void the transaction, according to local news channel WTVG 13.
After a brief verbal exchange of the 28-year-old allegedly refusing to honor Francis’ request, the latter telling Walsh to “Stop being nasty,” and Walsh demanding the customer to “Get the f*ck out,” Francis called the clerk a Karen. That’s when Walsh can be seen launching a jar full of change that allegedly hit Francis in the stomach, amongst other random objects. Then the situation escalated even further.
Video captured Walsh walking from behind the counter, grabbing an eight-week pregnant Francis by the hair and punching her with closed fists…in front of the customer’s two minor sons. “They didn’t know what to do. I had to tell my son to go get my husband, like, why am I trying to defend myself?,” Francis said.
During the altercation, Walsh allegedly called Francis, 40, “an animal” and “ghetto.”
Walsh was charged with assault, pleaded no contest to negligent assault and was found guilty in October. However, she was only sentenced to attend anger management training, according to local news station WTOL 11.
Now, Francis has filed a federal lawsuit against Walsh and the gas station claiming the assault resulted in her miscarriage the next day. The negligence and assault suit is reportedly seeking more than $75,000 in damages.
Francis said her miscarriage has affected her entire family, including her children.
“It makes me very emotional because of the fact that I did lose a child and my two sons were there to witness it and how terrified they were,” Francis told WTOL 11. “They just haven’t been able to sleep, and then my youngest baby, my 8-year-old, Michael, he’s been jumping up out of his sleep running and and screaming.”
The lawsuit alleges, “Circle K failed to maintain safe premises and failed to properly hire, train, or supervise staff, allowing an environment where violence and discrimination against customers could occur.”
Charles E. Boyk, Francis’s lawyer, called Walsh’s conduct “racist and criminal,” per WTVG 13. He added, “The employee never should have been hired.”
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