Inset left: Adiah Roberson (San Antonio Police Department). Inset right: Daniel Shrewsbury (Obituary). Background: The Sonic Drive-In where Roberson killed Shrewsbury in San Antonio, Tex. (Google Maps).
A fast-food shift on a summer night in San Antonio turned into a fatal confrontation when a teenage girl pulled a gun on a Sonic manager during a dispute over suspected counterfeit cash. What started as a routine order at a Sonic Drive-In ended with the death of manager M.E. Shrewsbury and, now, a decades-long prison sentence for the young shooter. The case has become a stark example of how quickly everyday conflicts can spiral into irreversible violence.
Nearly two years later, 19-year-old Adiah Roberson has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for murder, closing one chapter of a story that has shaken Sonic workers, customers, and an entire neighborhood. The details that emerged in court, from the alleged fake bills to the final moments in the parking lot, paint a picture of a tragedy that, as one account put it, simply “should not have happened.”
From fake bills to gunfire in a Sonic parking lot
According to investigators, the chain of events began when Roberson, then 17, tried to pay for food at a San Antonio Sonic with what staff believed was counterfeit money. The incident, which dates back to July 2024, escalated from a basic payment dispute into an argument in the parking lot after the manager confronted the car about the suspected fake cash at the Sonic stall. Authorities say the confrontation intensified when the group refused to cooperate, turning a standard fraud check into a volatile faceoff.
Roberson was 17 at the time of the July 7, 2024 shooting, and was in a vehicle with others when the dispute unfolded outside the Sonic Drive-In on Babco, where Shrewsbury was working that night. Prosecutors later told jurors that the teen left the car, pulled a gun, and opened fire on the manager after the argument over the suspected fake bills, a sequence of events laid out in detail in accounts of how Roberson reacted when the cash was questioned.
Police say the car was driven by a man identified as Joseph, who pulled into the Sonic with two other people to place the order. Investigators later concluded that Joseph was behind the wheel when the group tried to buy food with counterfeit money and that the manager followed them out to the parking lot, where the confrontation turned deadly and Shrewsbury was shot near the vehicle, according to Investigators. The San Antonio Police Department later detailed how the argument over suspected fake cash at the Sonic Drive-In spiraled into gunfire, a sequence that has been widely cited by the San Antonio Police Department.
A teen defendant, a grieving family, and a 40-year sentence
By the time the case reached a Bexar County courtroom, Roberson was 19 and facing a slate of serious charges. Records show that Adiah Roberson, 19, faced counts that included murder, assault, and forgery, reflecting both the shooting and the alleged use of fake money. In court, prosecutors described how the teen’s decision to fire on Shrewsbury in the Sonic parking lot turned a low-wage manager’s shift into a fatal encounter, a narrative echoed in coverage that framed the case as a deadly overreaction to a suspected scam at Roberson.
Jurors ultimately convicted Roberson of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the death of Shrewsbury, who was remembered as a hardworking Sonic manager trying to enforce basic rules. One account noted that Adiah Roberson, 19, was convicted in connection with the killing of Shrewsbury at The Sonic, and that a separate forgery charge tied to the alleged counterfeit money was later dropped. Another report captured the emotional weight of the trial, recounting how relatives said they heard Shrewsbury’s last breath and how the manager’s death at The Sonic still haunts co-workers.
Sentencing brought its own twists. On Jan. 9, as part of a plea deal, Roberson entered a no contest plea to murder and aggravated assault, while a separate report noted that, However, a prison sentence was not offered for the forgery charge tied to the alleged fake bills. In the end, a judge sentenced Roberson to 40 years in prison for murder and another 40 years for aggravated assault, with both terms to run concurrently, a punishment detailed in coverage of the Teen convicted in the Sonic case. Another account underscored that the Woman received 40 years after trying to pay at the Sonic restaurant with counterfeit money, while a separate video segment on the Sonic Drive case described how 19-year-old Adia Robersonson was headed to prison.
‘None of that should have happened’ and what comes next
For Shrewsbury’s family, the sentence is accountability, not closure. One detailed account of the courtroom described relatives listening as the verdict was read and later reflecting that they had heard Shrewsbury’s final breaths over the phone, a chilling reminder of how quickly the Sonic parking lot turned into a crime scene for Shrewsbury. Another report noted that two jurors actually knew the deceased manager, underscoring how deeply the killing cut into the local community around the Sonic Drive on Babco.
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