Former Blue Jays prospect charged with murder after locksmith shot to death
A former Toronto Blue Jays prospect has been charged with murder after a locksmith was shot to death at a home he owned in North Carolina.
Article content
Police said Brian Reed Grant, 40, was arrested Wednesday and charged with the second-degree murder of Randy Stewart, 61, of Southport, N.C., the owner of Stewart Enterprises Locksmith Service who was found dead after making a service call at a home in nearby Oak Island – between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington, N.C.
Article content
Oak Island Police Department said they arrived at the property reportedly owned by Grant at 6:18 p.m. and found Stewart, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Article content
Article content
Police said the incident was isolated despite false reports of multiple gunshot victims on various social media outlets.
Article content
Grant, who was selected by the Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2002 MLB draft, was arrested shortly afterward, booked at Brunswick County Detention Center and denied bond until his next court appearance on Aug. 11, the Wilmington Star-News reported.
Article content
A district attorney's office spokesperson told the Star-News that the property was Grant's second residence and he allegedly had been staying there for a couple of days. Grant's defence attorney disputed that account in a response to the outlet, saying he had just arrived at the property.
Article content
Police said Stewart showed up at the residence in a work van with his wife and two dogs and had planned to go on a fishing trip after the job was done, the Star-News reported.
Article content
Article content
The district attorney spokesperson told the Star-News that Grant had allegedly told law enforcement Stewart threatened him with knife and there was a Navy Seal inside the residence.
Article content
Grant's defence attorney told the Star-News that the account was false and he had 'co-operated with law enforcement throughout the incident and was never questioned prior to being detained.
Article content
'Grant's defending attorney described the incident as a clear case of self-defence,' the Star-News reported, and that Grant has no criminal record, two young children and family in the Wilmington area.
Article content
Grant, who was born in Goldsboro, N.C., and drafted out of Charles B. Aycock High School in nearby Pikeville, spent four seasons in the Blue Jays' minor-league system, starting with the rookie-level Medicine Hat Blue Jays and Pulaski Blue Jays before peaking at single-A with the Auburn Doubledays.
Article content
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
10 hours ago
- Toronto Star
These cosmetic stores inside Ontario malls promise customers better skin. Instead, a growing number say they've been tricked into high-cost loans
For Subscribers Star investigation The stores' management deny using deceitful sales tactics. But more and more disgruntled customers are demanding justice. July 27, 2025 9 min read Save By Frédérik PlanteInvestigative Reporter Ashell Campbell was returning shoes at the Scarborough Town Centre when, somewhere between Baskin-Robbins and Sephora, a saleswoman from a cosmetics store called the Soap Tree offered her a free skin cream sample. The woman noted Campbell's acne scarring and suggested a product that could help. Campbell, a 29-year-old community mental health worker, tried the cream and liked the result. 'Why not? I'll treat myself,' she thought, and bought it. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Frédérik Plante is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. You can reach him at fplante@ @fx_plante on X or @ on Bluesky. Related Stories This confidential report reveals Ontario is spending millions to warehouse kids under Children's Aid care in hotels and other unlicensed settings Disturbing errors at Ontario fertility clinics destroy couples' baby dreams years after province abandoned oversight plans Report an error Journalistic Standards About The Star More from The Star & partners
Global News
2 days ago
- Global News
Chuck E. Cheese mascot arrested in full costume for theft in Florida
It's not often you see a mascot get hauled away in handcuffs, but that's the exact scene that went down at a Florida Chuck E. Cheese this week, as onlookers watched police restrain the restaurant's iconic anthropomorphic rodent. On Wednesday, officers descended on a Tallahassee Chuck E. Cheese on reports of a stolen credit card, narrowing down the suspected thief to an employee who was inside the costume. Authorities believe Jermell Jones, who was dressed as the mouse when they arrived, stole a customer's bank card and used it to make fraudulent purchases. According to a police report, obtained by E! News, the owner of the bank card had used the card during her daughter's birthday party at the location last month. When she noticed some fraudulent charges, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Story continues below advertisement The documents allege she visited one of the locations that showed up in her irregular bank statements and obtained surveillance footage of a man making one of the purchases. She 'immediately recognized the suspect as an employee at Chuck E. Cheese,' the documents say. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy When police arrived at the children's pizza joint, Jones was handcuffed and escorted to a patrol car. He denied having anyone's bank cards and claimed he didn't know anything about the fraudulent purchases. Police later found a stolen bank card in their search, as well as a receipt allegedly matching one of the reported purchases. In total, investigators said the 41-year-old racked up US$105.57 in fraudulent charges. Photos and footage of the arrest have lit up the internet, with many questioning why police didn't have Jones remove the costume before he was placed under arrest. 'Ok, Tallahassee Police Department, y'all couldn't let this man change out of his Chuck E. Cheese costume before arresting him in front of those kids?' one Facebook user wrote while sharing photos of the incident. TPD spokesperson Alicia Hill told the Tallahassee Democrat that officers had hoped to lead Jones out of the restaurant without placing him in handcuffs. Story continues below advertisement 'When they approached him, he immediately tenses up and resists, and so at this point they make the decision to put him in handcuffs, keeping in mind the safety of not only the customers, but the suspect, as well as the officers themselves,' Hill said. 'It is unfortunate that the person who is subject of this investigation and who we had probable cause on happened to be … in costume.' Jones was charged with three felonies — theft of a credit card, criminal use of personal identification information and fraudulent use of a credit card over two times within six months, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
Edmonton Journal
3 days ago
- Edmonton Journal
Former Blue Jays prospect charged with murder after locksmith shot to death
Article content A former Toronto Blue Jays prospect has been charged with murder after a locksmith was shot to death at a home he owned in North Carolina. Article content Police said Brian Reed Grant, 40, was arrested Wednesday and charged with the second-degree murder of Randy Stewart, 61, of Southport, N.C., the owner of Stewart Enterprises Locksmith Service who was found dead after making a service call at a home in nearby Oak Island – between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington, N.C. Article content Oak Island Police Department said they arrived at the property reportedly owned by Grant at 6:18 p.m. and found Stewart, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Article content Article content Police said the incident was isolated despite false reports of multiple gunshot victims on various social media outlets. Article content Grant, who was selected by the Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2002 MLB draft, was arrested shortly afterward, booked at Brunswick County Detention Center and denied bond until his next court appearance on Aug. 11, the Wilmington Star-News reported. Article content A district attorney's office spokesperson told the Star-News that the property was Grant's second residence and he allegedly had been staying there for a couple of days. Grant's defence attorney disputed that account in a response to the outlet, saying he had just arrived at the property. Article content Police said Stewart showed up at the residence in a work van with his wife and two dogs and had planned to go on a fishing trip after the job was done, the Star-News reported. Article content Article content The district attorney spokesperson told the Star-News that Grant had allegedly told law enforcement Stewart threatened him with knife and there was a Navy Seal inside the residence. Article content Grant's defence attorney told the Star-News that the account was false and he had 'co-operated with law enforcement throughout the incident and was never questioned prior to being detained. Article content 'Grant's defending attorney described the incident as a clear case of self-defence,' the Star-News reported, and that Grant has no criminal record, two young children and family in the Wilmington area. Article content Grant, who was born in Goldsboro, N.C., and drafted out of Charles B. Aycock High School in nearby Pikeville, spent four seasons in the Blue Jays' minor-league system, starting with the rookie-level Medicine Hat Blue Jays and Pulaski Blue Jays before peaking at single-A with the Auburn Doubledays. Article content
