Popeye's Manager Killed, Surveillance Video Shows Killers

WOODBRIDGE, Va. (WUSA) -- The surveillance video shows two armed men entering the rear door of a Popeye's restaurant in Woodbridge Tuesday night. When the suspects ran out that same door, the Popeye's manager, Keith Truesdale, was dying.

"Very loving, like he brought warmth to a room...very outgoing. Everybody loved him," said the victim's roommate, Darius Cooke.

The 23-year-old manager was filling in for another worker on vacation at the Smoketown Road restaurant. He normally managed a Popeye's on Dale Boulevard. Truesdale had been with the company for a little more than a year.

"Shortly after 11 p.m., two suspects entered the unlocked back door of the restaurant and confronted one of the four employees that were working there," said 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn of Prince William County Police. "What they ended up doing was confronting the manager and demanded that the manager open the safe to get the money...and they shot him."

Chinn says Truesdale did not know the combination to the safe. Investigators are now going through the surveillance video from the Popeye's in Smoketown Plaza frame by frame. They are looking for clues that might help them track down the killers.

"Heartless. People don't have value for life anymore. It's a shame because it doesn't just affect that person. It affects a lot of people," said Justin Scroggins, the victim's friend.

Truesdale's friends say he moved from New York to Virginia looking for a better life. Scroggins says his friend of five years had found it until Tuesday night's hold up.

"He was a joy to know. There should be more people out there like him," said Scroggins.

A regional manager for the Popeye's chain says Truesdale was one of those guys people just loved. Chris Gobie says customers would come in because they liked the victim, who often did more on the job than he was required to do.

Truesdale's roommate says Keith, who also went by his middle name Jamar, helped out co-workers with their problems and even gave them rides. He had just turned 23 on January 17th. Friends had planned to go out and celebrate with him on Friday.

"I hope they suffer like we're suffering," said Cooke. "He was a great person and we'll miss him a lot.

A $5,000 reward is offered for information that helps police catch the killers. Anonymous calls are accepted at Crime Solvers on 1-866-411-TIPS.