Man who shot Waffle House cook over COVID-19 mask mandate sentenced to 13 years in prison

The man who shot a Waffle House cook who had asked him to wear a mask or leave the restaurant during the 2020 COVID-19 restaurant mask mandate has been sentenced to over a decade in prison.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge Jacob Edson in November sentenced Kelvin Watson, 30, to 13 years in Department of Corrections custody after he pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder and a sentence enhancer for committing a violent crime with a weapon in the 2020 shooting in Aurora, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Watson pleaded guilty earlier this month.

“While restaurants and stores are public places, businesses have the right to refuse service or ask customers to leave their establishment,” 18th Judicial District Attorney John Kellner said. “The defendant drove back to the restaurant and shot an innocent employee for no reason other than doing his job.”

Watson first went to the Waffle House in the 12800 block of East Mississippi Avenue about midnight May 14, 2020, according to a news release. He entered without a mask and employees told him he needed to have the mask on or they couldn’t serve him.

A waitress said Watson left and came back with a mask but wouldn’t put it on, according to the news release. When employees asked him to leave again, he pulled out a gun and threatened the restaurant cook.

He left again, and the incident was reported to police that morning, but about midnight the next day, Aurora police officers were called to a shooting at the Waffle House and found the cook who was threatened the night before shot in the stomach, according to the news release.

The cook identified Watson as the suspect, and staff noted he was a “regular” at the restaurant.

Police at the time said Watson returned and slapped the cook across the face when he was told again he was not going to be served. Watson shot the cook outside the restaurant as the cook ran to get away. The cook was later released from the hospital.

Following Watson’s release from prison, he will be placed on mandatory parole for three years, according to the news release.

Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.