Man found guilty of 2023 murder at a Montgomery restaurant

Juqwarn Hartwell/Courtesy: Montgomery County Detention Facility

A man has been guilty of a 2023 murder at a Montgomery restaurant.

Montgomery County District Attorney Azzie Oliver tells Action 8 News that a jury found Juqwarn Hartwell guilty of murdering an unarmed man in a fatal shooting inside the Waffle House on Folmar Parkway.

Oliver says on May 22, Hartwell began arguing with an employee who was a friend of Rondarius McQueen.

McQueen intervened on her behalf, which resulted in a brief exchange of words between him and the suspect.

The situation escalated when Hartwell pulled a gun from his crossbody bag and fired at Mr. McQueen. According to witnesses’ testimony and video surveillance, Mr. McQueen was unarmed.

After shooting Mr. McQueen, Hartwell and his cousin fled the scene with their food.

Friends and family who were present with the victim rushed him to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

“These senseless murders are happening far too often in our community,” said District Attorney Oliver.” Mr. McQueen was simply trying to do the right thing and stepped up to defend an employee who was being verbally abused by a belligerent customer. Juqwarn Hartwell should have let it go, taken his food and left. Instead, he chose to shoot and kill an unarmed man, ending Mr. McQueen’s life in the most despicable way. My office will ask for the maximum sentence allowed as I, along with my team of prosecutors, are committed to making sure anyone who believes gun violence is the only way to settle conflict goes to jail for a very long time.”

Hartwell is scheduled to be sentenced October 1.