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Second Arrest Made In December 2019 Killing Of Brooks Sandwich House Co-Owner

A new mural at Brooks Sandwich House honors Scott Brooks.
Jodie Valade
/
WFAE

Nearly a year after the shooting death of the co-owner of a popular NoDa sandwich shop, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said Tuesday that they have arrested a second suspect in the killing.

Steven Staples, 31, has been charged in the Dec. 9, 2019 death of Scott Brooks, CMPD said.

Staples already is in custody on unrelated charges, according to police.

In March, 33-year-old Terry Connor Jr. was arrested and charged with murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection with Brooks’ death. Connor subsequently was charged in the January shooting deaths of a man and woman in north Charlotte.

CMPD said the investigation into Brooks' killing still is active.

Brooks was shot and killed around 5 a.m. December 2019 in what police say was an attempted robbery. They searched for two men seen on surveillance tape, and a reward for information leading to an arrest was up to $21,000 early this year.

The killing shocked longtime supporters of the popular restaurant that has been operating since 1973. Many left flowers at the small building in the days after the shooting, and contributed more than $42,000 to a GoFundMe established to pay for funeral costs and a college fund for Brooks’ son.

Brooks Sandwich House closed for about two months, but when it reopened Feb. 1, patrons lined up around the block for some of Brooks’ famous burgers with chili – and just to show support for Brooks’ twin brother, David.

After Connor was arrested in March, David Brooks said, “I’m not sure if (the arrest) starts the healing process or not. Nothing’s going to bring my brother back."

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Jodie Valade has been a Digital News and Engagement Editor for WFAE since 2019. Since moving to Charlotte in 2015, she has worked as a digital content producer for NASCAR.com and a freelance writer for publications ranging from Charlotte magazine to The Athletic to The Washington Post and New York Times. Before that, Jodie was an award-winning sports features and enterprise reporter at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. She also worked at The Dallas Morning News covering the Dallas Mavericks — where she became Mark Cuban's lifelong email pen pal — and at The Kansas City Star. She has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University and a Master of Education from John Carroll University. She is originally from Rochester Hills, Michigan.