A 22-year-old contractor who showed up optimistic for his first day on the job at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Jacksonville ended up bleeding from a stab wound to the chest before he ever finished his shift. Now, nearly a year later, Antoine Autry's family has sued the beer giant, claiming the company's failure to secure its own facility cost him his life.
The wrongful-death lawsuit, filed Oct. 1, accuses Anheuser-Busch of failing to reasonably inspect, monitor or control people entering the facility with knives or other weapons, according to First Coast News. The family also alleges the company did not maintain an adequate security presence to respond to dangerous situations and that Autry did not receive timely emergency medical assistance once he was hurt.
Autry and fellow contractor Jason Guthrie were both working their first day at the plant when the stabbing happened, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. First Coast News reported the attack occurred Oct. 30, 2025, at the facility on Busch Drive, while Jacksonville.com reported the date as Oct. 31, 2025; the exact date remains unclear across the two accounts.
Officers Found Autry With a Chest Wound
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officers responded to the plant around 4:30 p.m. after a report of a stabbing and found Autry with a stab wound to his chest. He later died at a hospital. Guthrie was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and has since entered a plea of not guilty, the station's report states.
The wrongful-death lawsuit is a separate civil matter from the criminal case against Guthrie, First Coast News noted. Attorney Brian Moore of Morgan & Morgan, who represents Autry's family, described Autry as optimistic about his new job before the attack cut his life short.
Family Says Basic Questions Remain Unanswered
Moore said the family still does not know how the stabbing happened or what could have prevented it, and that the lawsuit aims to uncover what happened and whether the attack could have been avoided. The family wants changes made to help prevent a similar incident from happening to another worker, per the same account.
Moore said the case is in its early stages and that the family had not yet received a response from Anheuser-Busch. He added that the company will typically answer the complaint before months of discovery follow, including written discovery, oral discovery and depositions. First Coast News said it also contacted Anheuser-Busch for comment on the litigation and had not received a response by publication.
Guthrie's Record Includes a Prior Brush With a Fatal Case
Court and police records reviewed separately raise additional questions about Guthrie's background. Action News Jax reported that the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office had previously identified Guthrie as the only suspect in the 2017 death of Autumn Lee Van Camp, a case that was closed without charges after the State Attorney's Office declined prosecution because of Guthrie's mental incompetence.
Guthrie was also on probation at the time of his arrest in this case stemming from a 2020 incident in which he allegedly stabbed a man outside a liquor store, according to a report from scallywagandvagabond.com. Neither of those prior matters is cited in the family's civil complaint against Anheuser-Busch, which centers on the company's own security practices rather than Guthrie's history.
