Customers, family remember restaurant owner slain outside his business
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Customers and friends came together Thursday to support the family of a man gunned down Wednesday night outside his restaurant.
George Barnett Nelson Sr. died shortly after arriving at a hospital from his barbecue restaurant at 26th Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street. He was 56.
Chef Tawana Gulley, Nelson’s first cousin, said Thursday of the Pa & Ma’s Backyard BBQ restaurant, “This is his legacy, and everyone showed up here today … because he put his blood sweat and tears in this community.
“He involved everyone. He fed everybody that went through that door.”
At the restaurant, a sign on the door reads “Goon With a Spoon,” known to customers as Nelson’s trademark.
His family, friends and workers opened the restaurant Thursday in honor of Nelson’s legacy and dream.
He opened his restaurant years ago. Less than six months ago, the restaurant was moved to a new location on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street just a few blocks south of its I-65 interchange on the near northwest side.
Inside the restaurant on Thursday, customers filled their plates with soul food, the way Nelson would have wanted it. Photos of Nelson and his wife, two kids and grandchildren were visible on the walls as usual, for customers to enjoy.
Employees shared with I-Team 8 that Nelson’s door was always open and, if someone didn’t have money, he would feed that person.
Gulley says Nelson inspired her to become a chef.
“That person who took his life, you don’t know what you did. You had no idea what you did. You took so many people’s hearts,” Gulley said.
Nelson’s only daughter, Brockelle Nelson, says her dad knew the gunman. Nelson had hired the man to put siding on the restaurant. She says her father he was going to pay half before and half upon completion of the siding job, but the installer wanted all the money upfront.
“So, the guy came up here, and they were arguing back and forth. My dad is 6-4, 350 (pounds). He’s an intimidating man. So, they got into a little scuffling, and the dude pulled out and he shot my dad in the chest three times. They said my Dad fell right over there in that mud, face down on his face,” Brockelle said while standing outside the restaurant.
She says the disagreement was over a few hundred dollars.
Nelson’s daughter is moving to Indianapolis from Washington, D.C., and she says she’ll be running her dad’s business and keeping it open. “I’m a representation of my Dad. I’m a true daddy’s girl, like my Dad was like my best friend, and, so, I know this is what he would have wanted me to do.”
Police arrested a man and detained three others.
The Rev. Charles Harrison of Barnes United Methodist Church was among people who stopped at the restaurant Thursday to pay their respects to Nelson.
Harrison, who’s the founder of the Indianapolis TenPoint Coalition, said of Nelson, “He’s a good man who was committed to doing good and helping people in the community.”
Janice White says she knew Nelson for more than nine years. ” He’s a gentle, caring giant. He cared for everybody.”