Investigators say the accused employee knew when his newly promoted coworker would be at the restaurant.
BRIDGETON, Mo. — A restaurant employee angry that a coworker received a promotion he wanted entered a back office where she was working and tried to strangle her, stopping only after their general manager unlocked the door, Missouri authorities allege.
The June 8 encounter at a McAlister’s Deli has led to first-degree assault and first-degree burglary charges against Jevon Mallory, 32. Police say the promotion was not merely the subject of an argument that broke out during a shift. Mallory allegedly told officers that he knew the woman would be working, went to the restaurant intending to kill her and would have done so if the manager had not interrupted. He was initially jailed on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
The public record provides few details about the job opening itself. Authorities have not identified the position, said when the company announced its decision or described the process used to choose between applicants. The woman’s name and job title have also been withheld. What investigators have made central is Mallory’s alleged reaction after learning that she received the role. Police said he told them the decision made him angry with her, directing his resentment toward the successful applicant rather than describing a disagreement with the managers who selected her. There is no indication in the initial reports that the woman had authority over the hiring process or played any role in denying Mallory the promotion.
At about 10:30 a.m., the woman was inside the restaurant’s rear office, according to the probable cause statement. Mallory entered and locked the door behind him. Investigators said he immediately announced an intention to kill her. He then allegedly placed both hands around her neck and forced her to the floor. Police said the pressure continued until she went limp. The records do not describe a long verbal dispute before the physical contact, nor do they identify any demand that Mallory made of the woman. The state’s account instead presents the attack as the reason he entered the room and secured the door.
The restaurant remained an active workplace around the closed office. A general manager heard a commotion from the room and approached the door. Although Mallory had locked it, the manager was able to open it from outside. Police said the sight or sound of the manager entering caused Mallory to release the woman. She stood and left with the manager, who then locked Mallory inside. That action changed the office from the place where the woman had allegedly been isolated into a temporary barrier between Mallory and everyone else. Police were called and took him into custody at the business.
Authorities have not said how many employees were present, whether the restaurant was serving customers or whether anyone in the dining room became aware of the attack before officers arrived. The reports do not include video from the restaurant or nearby businesses. They also do not explain whether the office contained security equipment, employee files, cash or other materials that typically limit access. Such details could matter to the burglary charge, which rests partly on the nature of Mallory’s presence in the office and his alleged purpose while inside it.
The case illustrates the legal difference between workplace access and permission to enter a specific space for a criminal purpose. Mallory’s employment at McAlister’s Deli may have allowed him to enter the restaurant under ordinary circumstances. Prosecutors, however, allege that he went into the office, locked the door and remained there to commit a violent felony. The defense can argue that the facts do not satisfy every element of first-degree burglary or that another offense would better fit the evidence. That dispute will be resolved through motions, hearings or trial rather than by the label used in an initial charging document.
The first-degree assault count focuses on what Mallory allegedly intended and did after entering. Investigators said he threatened to kill the woman, used both hands to strangle her and continued after she became unresponsive or physically limp. They also attribute to him a later statement that he would have killed her without the manager’s arrival. Prosecutors can use conduct, words and surrounding circumstances to argue intent. Defense attorneys may challenge whether Mallory made the statement as reported, whether it was voluntary and whether medical or physical evidence supports the full description of the attack.
The reports do not provide a diagnosis for the woman or say whether emergency medical workers treated her at the restaurant. No hospital, physician or relative has released information about her recovery. Becoming limp during strangulation can be significant evidence in an assault investigation, but the court record released through news reports does not specify whether she lost consciousness. Her ability to stand and leave the office establishes that she survived and escaped after the manager entered. It does not answer questions about delayed injuries, time away from work or the emotional impact of returning to the site.
McAlister’s Deli was not quoted in the initial coverage addressing the promotion or the alleged violence. The reports do not say whether Mallory was working at the time of the encounter, whether he had been disciplined before June 8 or whether managers had heard him make earlier threats. No information has been released suggesting that the woman or other employees knew he allegedly planned an attack. The absence of a publicly reported warning is important to the chronology because the first documented signal described by authorities was the noise the manager heard after the office door had already been locked.
Mallory’s criminal history added another dimension to the investigation. In April 2013, authorities said he entered a women’s restroom at St. Louis Community College’s Meramec campus and strangled a student. Her scream brought an employee into the restroom, where the employee restrained him until police arrived. Mallory pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and received a 10-year prison sentence. He was incarcerated from December 2014 until October 2022, according to state records cited in local reporting. The earlier conviction may inform bond arguments, but it does not remove the prosecution’s obligation to prove the restaurant charges independently.
In both cases, another worker’s response ended an assault described as a strangling. The resemblance may shape public attention, yet a judge must control how the older incident is used in the new proceeding. Evidence of prior conduct can be restricted when it would mainly encourage a verdict based on character rather than the charged facts. Prosecutors and defense lawyers may submit arguments about whether the previous conviction has a proper role at trial. The court can also give jurors limiting instructions if any portion is admitted.
Mallory’s first reported court milestone after his arrest was a June 16 bond hearing. Further steps can include review of the detention order, disclosure of police reports and recordings, interviews with restaurant employees, examination of any surveillance system and litigation over Mallory’s alleged admissions. Prosecutors must also establish the chain of events supporting both charges. No trial date or plea agreement was included in the available reports, and publicly indexed coverage did not identify a later resolution.
The manager’s intervention remains the decisive moment in the police account, but the alleged motive sets this case apart from a spontaneous workplace fight. Investigators say Mallory selected the morning because he knew the promoted employee was present, entered the room where she was alone and locked the door before attacking. The courts must now decide whether the evidence proves that account beyond a reasonable doubt.
Author note: Last updated July 11, 2026.