The daughter of an Indiana woman who passed away from a heart attack after an altercation at a Tim Hortons has made startling claims regarding the circumstances of her mother’s death.
Anita Grayson, 75, collapsed after a confrontation with staff at the Fort Wayne Tim Hortons, sparked by a dispute over her drive-thru order on May 13.
Police have released video footage showing Grayson initiating the conflict by grabbing a young employee and pulling out a portion of her hair.
However, Grayson’s daughter, Tawnda Grayson, has told the Daily Mail she suspects the police have manipulated the “complete footage” using artificial intelligence in a deliberate effort to portray her mother as the aggressor.
“They’re trying to cover it up,” Tawnda Grayson alleged to the Daily Mail, insisting that the authorities are shifting the blame onto her mother rather than holding the Tim Hortons employees accountable.
Tawnda also revealed that she received anonymous video footage suggesting her mother, who suffered from congestive heart failure, was actually the one attacked first and subsequently pushed to the ground.
But following a furious reaction on social media and calls for the worker to be prosecuted, police decided to release the full footage which showed Grayson was the aggressor. Tawnda now claims that footage has been doctored.
She said she was warned by Fort Wayne police that the full video would show her mother ‘was at fault.’
Anita Grayson, 75, suffered a heart attack in a Tim Hortons store on May 13 after police say she aggressively confronted workers about a mistake with her drive-thru order
Shocking surveillance footage released by police appeared to show Grayson berate workers at the Tim Hortons and strike one in the face, leading one of the staffers to swing her arms at her and shove her to the ground
Grayson’s daughter, Tawnda, said she is not satisfied with the response from police and told the Daily Mail she believes the full footage was ‘edited with AI’ to make her mom look at fault
But she said when she told officers that she believed the footage was edited and was not accurate, they did not acknowledge her theory.
‘They didn’t say nothing, because they know,’ she alleged.
Tawnda has not commented on why she thinks the police would doctor the footage to make her mother look bad.
The Daily Mail has contacted the Fort Wayne Police Department for comment.
Tawnda claimed she and her family have been left in the dark by cops during the investigation and are pushing authorities to release bodycam footage to show the full sequence of events.
‘Did anyone give her aid, or CPR?’ she questioned. ‘Was she alive when the cops came? I don’t know. I want to see it.’
When police released the full footage, they said they hoped the added context would ‘alleviate the uneasiness that many felt after seeing the video’ that Tawnda shared first to social media.
In the surveillance footage released by police, the 75-year-old was seen berating young workers at the coffee shop, complaining that they made a mistake with her drive-thru order.
Police said they arrived at the scene ten minutes after they were called and found Grayson unresponsive
Footage showed Grayson entering the Tim Hortons to complain to workers
A worker shoved Grayson backwards after the elderly woman hit her in the face, police said
The encounter escalated after a 20-year-old employee told Grayson to leave, which police say led her to ‘forcefully’ shove the staff member and another employee.
Grayson then struck one of the workers in the face and ripped out a lock of her hair, police say.
In response, a worker swung her arms wildly at the elderly woman and knocked her over, before she stood up and was brought a cup of water by the store manager to in a bid to calm her down.
Police say that Grayson was unresponsive when officers arrived ten minutes later and she was pronounced dead of a heart attack after receiving medical attention.
In remarks to 21Alive, Tawnda said she has been left bereft since the loss of her mother and is confused how a simple coffee run cost her her life.
‘You should not enter a coffee shop for a coffee and a doughnut and come out unalived,’ she said. ‘That is diabolical.
‘My mother was wronged in the worst way. I lost the matriarch of my family.’
The Allen County Coroner’s Office has not ruled on Grayson’s cause and manner of death, but preliminary findings show there were ‘no significant contributory injuries’ that contributed to her heart attack.
The grandmother was treated by medics at the scene but sadly died, with authorities saying she suffered a fatal heart attack at the coffee shop
Tawnda said her mother had congestive heart failure, but said she does not accept the police’s account of the incident and believes her mother should not have died.
‘That’s an elderly lady. That’s not how we treat our senior citizens,’ she said.
‘We be careful with them. We make sure that they’re alright. We don’t jump on them and attack them. And scare them to death.’
Following backlash on social media, the Fort Wayne Police Department said it understood the public concern but said early footage of her being shoved over was out of context.
A spokesman urged the public to ‘allow the review process to proceed based on the full body of evidence, not incomplete video clips or inaccurate narratives.’
In a statement to the Daily Mail, a spokesperson for Tim Hortons said: ‘We were deeply saddened to learn about this incident and our heartfelt condolences go out to the loved ones of Anita Grayson.
‘The health and safety of our guests and team members is our highest priority and the local franchisee has been cooperating fully with the local police.’
