1994 Popeyes shooting

Did You Know?

• Peraita had worked at the restaurant before the murders.
• Archer recognized Peraita despite his bandana because of a distinctive haircut.
• Police located Peraita's address from an unretrieved paycheck at the restaurant.

Shooting

On the night of April 15, 1994, employee Darrell K. Collier unlocked the back door of a Popeyes in east Gadsden to let coworkers Nathaniel Baker and Bryant Archer take out trash. Robert Melson and Cuhuatemoc Peraita entered through that door and ordered the four employees into the office, demanding the safe be emptied. After the employees complied, Melson forced them into the freezer, then unlocked it and opened fire shortly after midnight on April 16. Baker, Collier, and Tamika Collins died at the scene; Archer, shot at least four times, survived and crawled to the office to call 911.

Legal proceedings

Melson was convicted and sentenced to death on May 17, 1996, receiving Alabama Department of Corrections ID 0000Z601. Two execution dates in 2010 were stayed. A new date was set for June 8, 2017; a temporary stay from an appellate court on June 2 was vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 6. On the execution day, the Supreme Court granted another temporary stay for Justice Clarence Thomas to review appeals, but the stay was lifted. The execution began at 9:55 p.m., and Melson was pronounced dead at 10:27 p.m. Peraita was found guilty by a jury on February 10, 1996, after three hours of deliberation, and sentenced to life without parole on March 15, 1996. On December 11, 1999, Peraita participated in the fatal stabbing of inmate Quincy Lewis at Holman Correctional Facility; he was sentenced to death for that murder on November 1, 2001, and remains on death row.

Aftermath

In 2014, survivor Bryant Archer, then 38, told The Birmingham News he hoped the victims would not be forgotten and described chronic and neuropathic pain as well as post-traumatic stress disorder from the crime. He reported difficulty finding work, having last held a job in 2006 because employers viewed him as a liability due to his disabilities. In a separate 2014 interview with the Gadsden Messenger, Archer expressed anxiety about his 17-year-old daughter getting a job, given his own experience at that age.