MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A shooting outside a Beale Street club that left a 52-year-old man dead over the weekend started with a spilled drink, a witness said.

A co-worker identified the victim as Damein Hawkins. Memphis Police say Hawkins died after he was shot in front of the Jerry Lee Lewis Cafe around 2 Sunday morning.

“Damein was such a good man. He really, really was,” said his former co-worker Tamekia Boyd. “I was extremely heartbroken. It definitely brought tears to my eyes. Total disbelief when I received the call and to be honest with you it still feels unreal.”

Police say the man who pulled the trigger was 27-year-old Quaverre Rogers. His bond was set at $750,000.

A general manager for the cafe told us Rogers had been employed intermittently as a doorman, but he was not working on the night of the incident. 

A witness told WREG they believed the shooting stemmed from a spilled drink. 

Police records show officers on Beale heard the shooting. After a crowd dispersed, one of them actually witnessed Rogers standing over Hawkins, with a gun pointed at him, before he took off running.

But Rogers didn’t make it far before police caught up to him. Officers said the gun he was carrying had been modified with a Glock switch to make it a machine gun.

Boyd, who spoke to us by phone, said it’s important people know what kind of man Hawkins was. 

“Such a hard worker, a gentle gentleman that truly, truly, truly loved his family. He would often come in my office talking about his weekend with his wife, his children. He spent a lot of time with his brothers and definitely his grandbabies were his highlight of his life,” she said.

Now she thinks of his family during this difficult time. 

“He did not deserve to leave this Earth the way that he did,” she said. “I’m just lifting his family in my prayers.”

Rogers is set to appear before a judge Wednesday morning.

In a statement, the Jerry Lee Lewis Cafe told us in part they are saddened by this most recent act of violence in our city.  

They wanted to stress that the incident occurred on Beale Street, not inside their business. They said the victim did not work at the business; the accused shooter sometimes worked as a doorman, but was not working at the time of the shooting.