HOUSTON – A manager who worked at a Houston area Smoothie King says one of her former employees who she had recently fired ended up kidnapping and beating her earlier this year.
Authorities have now issued a warrant for the former employee’s arrest.
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According to court documents, the victim, who was not named, told authorities that while she was a manager at the Smoothie King located at 5300 Richmond Avenue, another woman by the name of Keisha Lynette Christmas also worked there.
The victim said during her four months working with Christmas, she was constantly showing up late for work or not showing up at all. Following several disciplinary write-ups, Christmas was officially terminated on Dec. 12, 2022. The manager added that she tried to contact Christmas on her cellphone, to no avail.
On the next day, Christmas reportedly came to the store, which is located near The Galleria, to pick up her check with her 15-year-old daughter. When she arrived at the store, another employee told her that she had since been fired. That’s when Christmas began to lash out at that employee by raising her voice.
During their exchange, the manager reportedly entered the store. That’s when Christmas suddenly grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall three times. The manager stated Christmas slapped her in the face several times, which caused her pain, and then began choking her to the point where she could not breathe and started gasping for air.
Christmas demanded that the manager walk her over to the Wells Fargo across the street to take out money. The victim stated Christmas told her if she tried to run away that she would throw her into oncoming traffic, according to documents.
The victim also stated that Christmas took her iPhone XR cell phone, which was valued at $300, as leverage while they walked to the bank and then demanded she withdrew $200 immediately.
Once the manager withdrew the money, she said Christmas gave her the cell phone back. The manager then ran back to the store, locked herself in the bathroom, and called police.