‘Devoted and loving’ father fatally shot in attack outside Alabama restaurant, reports say
A restaurant manager was fatally shot in a targeted attack outside the business while he was opening, Alabama police said.
Jason Mallette, 38, the manager of Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe in Daphne, went to open the restaurant door on June 29 around 5:30 a.m., WPMI reported. He was approached by a man wearing a dark hoodie at the door.
The man was 41-year-old Travis Lofton, the husband of an employee at the restaurant, police told WALA.
Lofton approached Mallette and the two men exchanged words before Mallette was shot in the chest, AL.com reported.
Another employee of the restaurant called 911 and first responders tried to save his life, but Mallette died, AL.com reported.
“As to motive, we know this was a targeted attack,” Daphne police told WPMI. “Lofton’s wife is a Taziki’s employee and there was an apparent grievance with the victim. Whether that was actual or perceived, remains under investigation.”
Lofton fled on foot, but was later arrested and charged with murder, AL.com reported.
Officers with the Daphne Police Department were not available for comment on June 30.
“Our hearts are broken with the sudden passing of a valued team member,” Taziki’s owner Bobby Touchton told WALA.
Mallette, a father of two boys, 11-year-old Hunter and 6-year-old Michael, was described by family and friends as “devoted and loving,” according to a GoFundMe page.
“His two sons meant the world to him,” Tabatha Middleton, Hunter’s mother, said on the page. “Jason enjoyed being in the woods hunting, fishing, Auburn football and making the people around him laugh.”
Mallette’s younger sister, Kristy Mallette, called her oldest brother “hardworking, loving, friendly to all,” in a June 30 Facebook post.
“He will be more missed than words can describe,” Kristy Mallette wrote.
Daphne is along Alabama’s gulf shore, about 13 miles southeast of Mobile.
This story was originally published June 30, 2023 at 3:59 PM with the headline "‘Devoted and loving’ father fatally shot in attack outside Alabama restaurant, reports say."
