A Mississippi waitress was shot and killed by a customer after she asked him not to smoke.

Julia Brightwell of Biloxi was a 52-year-old long-time waitress at a Waffle House who spent some of her final moments asking patrons how they enjoyed their Thanksgiving.

Biloxi police charged 45-year-old Johnny Max Mount with first-degree murder. They said he shot Ms Brightwell early on Friday after she asked him not to smoke.

Fire Chief Joe Boney told The Sun Herald that Mount is a former firefighter who was badly injured in a 2002 traffic accident.

Customer Richard Bonin said Ms Brightwell served him and two friends just before she was shot.

Though she was tired, he said, she asked if they had a good Thanksgiving.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.