Owner of Milt's Gourmet Barbecue shot and killed by robbers

Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Family and friends are mourning the death of Milton Goodson, a 64-year-old Shelby Township resident they say was killed Friday night in his eastside barbecue restaurant.

Goodson was shot about 10 p.m. as two men robbed his Milt's Gourmet Barbecue at 19143 Kelly near Moross in Detroit, said family friend Robin Rayford.

She said Goodson and other employees left the building as one of the men kicked in a rear door. But a high-school age worker was in a large freezer and did not know about the break-in. Goodson went back inside to check on her and struggled with at least one of the suspects before he was shot.

Family members say he was taken to St. John Hospital & Medical Center where he died.

Police declined to comment on the case.

Goodson was assistant pastor of Restoration Fellowship Tabernacle Church, where he and his wife donated a lift to help wheelchair-bound worshippers. He believed strongly that young people needed to be guided in life and offered many teens jobs at his restaurant over the years