A Hamilton County jury acquitted Antwoine McCants, 56, of murder and felonious assault Sept. 25, finding he acted in self-defense in the June 2025 shooting death of Christopher Stallworth, 41, inside a Shake Shack near the University of Cincinnati.
Prosecutors described the dispute as a misunderstanding over a parking spot and argued McCants shot Stallworth without seeing a gun. McCants’ lawyers said Stallworth followed him into the restaurant to retaliate and reached toward a pocket containing a gun. Surveillance cameras recorded the shooting.
Stallworth’s fiancée, Atiya Muhammadel, initially told police she had been armed and drawn a gun, but testified that Stallworth brought it into the restaurant and never pulled it. She said she learned he had it when it fell from his pocket as he collapsed, then picked it up after McCants had left; police later found the gun on the patio. McCants’ lawyers said she removed it because Stallworth was on parole; prosecutors said there was no evidence she tried to hide it.
