A Texas family is demanding accountability after their son was found dead outside a Houston steakhouse, with police saying restaurant staff mistook him for a homeless person and failed to call for help.
Jessie Mobley Jr., 34, had reportedly finished a meal at KFFO Afro Steakhouse on August 7 when he collapsed at his table, per the New York Post.
But instead of calling emergency services, employees allegedly moved his unconscious body outside and propped him up near a beauty college in the same strip mall.
Police said staff assumed Mobley was homeless and left him with his belongings outside the Behind the Chair Institute, a cosmetology school in Houston’s Eldridge/West Oaks neighborhood.
Tragically, a student from the school discovered Mobley's body the next morning as she arrived for class. He was pronounced dead by first responders just after 9:00AM.
Grieving mother: ‘He has turned purple. There were signs of decay’
Mobley's devastated family is now speaking out, questioning how restaurant staff could ignore a man in clear medical distress.
His stepmother, Renee Mobley, shared the horror of seeing her stepson’s body for the last time.
“The way we seen him was horrible. He has turned purple. There were signs of decay,” she said.
Local media reported that ants were found crawling on one side of Mobley’s body, and discoloration had already set in. His official cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but if it is determined to be from natural causes, police say the investigation will be closed.
“We just think if somebody had gotten him some help instead of putting him on the sidewalk — called 911 if nothing else,” Renee added. “If you don’t know what is wrong with someone, you shouldn’t assume.”
Restaurant remains silent as outrage grows
KFFO Afro Steakhouse has not commented on the incident, according to local station KHOU. Meanwhile, the family’s anger is only growing.
Charlene Fogg-Drake, Mobley’s aunt and his primary caregiver, has been vocal about the need for accountability.
“Why didn't you call 911? I feel like people need to be accountable for it, I really do,” she told the Houston Chronicle.
Fogg-Drake said she’s set up several memorials for her nephew outside the restaurant — including candles, flowers, balloons, and signs — but they have all been repeatedly taken down.
Mobley, who lived with his aunt, was cremated in Houston before his ashes were taken home to Spring, Texas.
‘There’s no aging gracefully after losing a child’
The tragedy marks a heartbreaking third loss for Jessie Mobley Sr. and Renee Mobley, who have lost three children in the past 13 years.
“There’s no aging gracefully after losing a child,” Renee said.
Jessie Sr., affectionately known as “Big Jessie,” has suffered 13 heart attacks, two strokes, 10 stents, and surgery on his carotid artery — and says the ongoing grief has taken a visible toll. He’s lost 60 pounds.
Renee remembers Jessie Jr. as a fun-loving man who had endured many challenges in his life.
His aunt said she was planning a special birthday dinner for him at a waterfront restaurant, but he died just one week before turning 35.