Ex-MLB draft pick Brian Grant accused of murdering North Carolina locksmith

A former MLB draft pick was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly murdering a locksmith in North Carolina. 

Brian Grant, aged 40, is charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bail at the Brunswick County Detention Center, as per records accessed by The Post.

The Oak Island Police Department issued a statement indicating that officers responded to a call on Wednesday evening where they discovered 61-year-old Randy Stewart deceased from gunshot injuries.


Mugshot of Brian Grant, a 2002 MLB draft pick arrested for murder.
Brian Grant was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office

According to WRAL News, police body camera footage showed Grant telling the authorities that Stewart put a knife to his throat. 

The Blue Jays selected Grant in the seventh round of the 2002 MLB Draft out of Charles B. Aycock High School in Pikeville, North Carolina.

The 6-foot-4, 207-pound right-handed pitcher spent four years in the minor leagues, playing for the Medicine Hat Blue Jays (2002), Pulaski Blue Jays (2003-04), and Auburn Doubledays (2004-05), but he never made it to the major leagues.

Across that span, he notched a 4.72 ERA in 169.2 innings with 111 strikeouts.

Grant is a resident of Fuquay-Varina, which is about 20 miles south of Raleigh. 

The incident allegedly took place at Grant’s home during what appeared to have been a service call to the house by Stewart’s locksmith company, according to the Wilmington Star-News.

The residence was Grant’s second home, a representative from the district attorney’s office told the Star-News. 

Grant’s attorney told the Star-News that the former hurler has no criminal record and has young children and a family, and also characterized the case as a clear instance of self-defense.

Grant appeared in Brunswick County court on Thursday, and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Aug. 11. 

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