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Temia Hairston's last conversation with her son was not an easy one. Michael Grace Jr. had been fired from a series of low-paying, unskilled jobs. He had a 4-year-old child and a pregnant girlfriend. Essentially homeless, the 28-year-old was not in a position to take care of anyone, even himself.
His mother didn't know what he needed more — a motivational speech or tough love.
"He had lost everything. He lost his Pizza Hut job. He lost his primary job. And because he lost his jobs, he lost his car also," Hairston, of Charlotte, told The Washington Post. "We were talking about baby Michael and I was like, 'you got to get it together because [the child's mother] is having to take care of him by herself because you're not working. I need you to get yourself together and get back on your grind.' "
Hairston said she wasn't sure if her words sunk in. "He was nodding," she said of the Oct. 29 conversation, "but he had a look on his face like he had nothing left to lose."
A few hours after the talk, Grace laced up a pair of Air Jordans, put on a mask and went to the west Charlotte Pizza Hut where he used to work, armed with a gun. Police say he and two men waited until the business was closed, then burst into the restaurant.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say what happened next is still under investigation:
"Three individuals . . . were in the process of robbing the business when one of the employees fired his own personal handgun at one of the robbery suspects, striking him," the police statement said.
Her son died robbing a Pizza Hut. Now she wants the employee who shot him to be charged with a crime.