On the evening of June 11, 2025, 41-year-old man Christopher Stallworth was shot inside the Shake Shack at 249 Calhoun Street near the University of Cincinnati. Officers from Cincinnati Police and UC Police responded around 8:20 p.m. and found Christopher Stallworth suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He was rushed to UC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Witness accounts and security video described a confrontation that began as a parking dispute and escalated inside the crowded restaurant. Court documents state that when the gun was produced, Christopher Stallworth had both hands in his pockets and was retreating; investigators said the shooter later admitted he did not believe Christopher Stallworth had a weapon.
Police identified and arrested 54-year-old Antwoine McCants of North Avondale. He was charged with murder in the killing of Christopher Stallworth and, according to prosecutors, appeared in court as investigators referenced video evidence from inside the restaurant. A judge set bond at $1 million while the case proceeded.
Within a week, a Hamilton County grand jury indicted Antwoine McCants on two counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault, with filings reiterating that the shooting unfolded “with numerous patrons in close proximity.” McCants' attorney asserted a self-defense claim, but the charging documents emphasize the sequence captured on video and the absence of any observed weapon on Christopher Stallworth.
The death of 41-year-old man Christopher Stallworth reverberated across the Clifton Heights neighborhood—an ordinary summer night on a busy campus corridor punctured by a single argument that moved from the curb to a dining room and ended in a fatal shot. In the days that followed, police urged anyone with additional information to contact the homicide unit as the case moved through the courts.
