Dionna Samuel was tragically shot and killed on Monday while working at an East St. Louis McDonald’s. Her family and local officials believe she was not the intended target of the attack.
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — The mother of Dionna Samuel, the young woman who was fatally shot while working at an East St. Louis McDonald’s, is grieving as she waits for the police to catch the killer.
Samuel, a 23-year-old McDonald’s manager, was caught in the crossfire and shot multiple times while working the drive-thru Monday evening. Her mother, Angelia Johnson, said her daughter had just clocked in for her shift, and only a little over an hour later, her life was tragically cut short.
“The next time I see her will have to be at a funeral home. No goodbyes. No, nothing,” Johnson shared.
The shooting took place around 7:30 p.m. on Monday at the McDonald’s located at 588 N. 24th St., in the city’s Central Business District. On Wednesday afternoon, families were celebrating their children’s victory in a state football championship, while Samuel’s family mourned their loss just outside the restaurant.
“I feel there should be justice because she didn’t deserve it,” Johnson said.
Two days after the incident, the restaurant remains closed.
This was Samuel’s second job. She had been working there for seven years, often splitting her time between the McDonald’s and her day job at a local bank, where she worked with her mom and brother.
“You want to see her; you want to talk and make sure she’s okay. I just feel stupid standing here waiting on the text that, in real life, I know is not going to come. But I want her to know I love her,” Johnson expressed.
Johnson said she and her son had just finished their shift when the gunfire erupted. That was the last time she saw her daughter alive.
“By the time I got home, I was receiving a call from one of the young ladies telling me Dionna had been shot,” her mother said.
While Johnson is unsure who was in the car, she believes Samuel wasn’t the intended target.
“I don’t feel like she was the intended target, but evidently, they missed their target. They just pulled up, she interacted a little bit, talking to them and trying to see what they needed, and that was it,” she explained.
This marks the second homicide at the McDonald’s this year. In early May, a shooting left one person dead and another hospitalized following an argument that escalated both inside and outside the restaurant.
“My heart dropped, my heart stopped. It’s just very, very tragic that these things are happening right here,” said East St. Louis City Councilman Ryan Cason.
Cason has been working with the police department to increase security around the area.
“I’ve spoken with our police chief, Chief Kendall Perry, and he’s assured me that we’ll get more patrols out here. Hopefully, we have talks with the business owner to develop a better security plan to ensure everyone’s safety, not just for this particular business but for all in the area, because these things shouldn’t happen like this,” Cason said.
Cason also shares Johnson’s belief that Samuel was not the intended target.
“The police chief has been all over this, and he’s made it his number one priority for the family to get justice,” said Cason.
As a manager, Johnson is determined to see an end to the violence.
“I’m very angry, and the anger is really eating us up. Like I say, to know her is to love her. Everybody who met her in the drive-thru or when they came in loved her. All the regulars knew her, whether they were kids or older people. We haven’t accepted it, and we just want justice,” Johnson said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Illinois State Police had made no arrests or charges in Samuel’s murder.
“She was always smiling, and that was her thing. That’s how I want her to be remembered, being happy with her McChicken, her frappe, and just enjoying life; that’s what she did,” Johnson said.
Illinois State Police, in collaboration with East St. Louis Police, is working to solve the case.
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