Subway Manager Gets No Jail Time After Locking 10-Year-Old Girl in Back Room Over Mopped Floor Dispute

A Subway manager who was arrested in 2025 for locking a 10-year-old girl in a back room has been sentenced to only two days in prison as part of his plea deal. However, he will not even serve those days, as the judge credited him for the time already spent in custody.

The accused, James Anthony Morris Jr., 34, worked as a manager at a Subway outlet on Argyle Forest Boulevard in Jacksonville, Florida. On July 21, 2025, Morris Jr. was mopping the floor when a mother arrived at the store with her 10-year-old daughter.

After the two ordered sandwiches, the girl accidentally stepped on a section of the floor that Morris Jr. had just cleaned. The mother told the child to apologize to the manager. But instead of accepting the apology, Morris Jr. grabbed her arm, took her to a back room and locked her inside.

The court documents revealed, “The complainant told police that they had just ordered their sandwiches when she noticed the suspect was mopping the floors. She said that the victim accidentally stepped on that portion of the floor, so she told her to apologize to the suspect. That's when, suddenly, the suspect grabbed the victim by the hand, quickly escorted the victim to the back of the store behind a locked door.”

The mother followed them and tried to open the door, but Morris Jr. held it shut to keep it locked. The woman screamed for help and even fought with Morris Jr. After a brief struggle, she was able to open the door and free her child. The girl spent over two minutes locked in the back room.

The mother then called 911, and first responders soon arrived at the scene to take Morris Jr. into custody. The child later told police that she felt scared during that time because she thought she was being kidnapped. Meanwhile, Morris Jr. told her that her parents were terrible people.

Authorities also asked the victim whether the man had made any s----- advances toward her, to which she said no. Morris Jr. was initially charged with false imprisonment, but the charge was later changed to child abuse.

On April 30, 2026, Morris Jr. pleaded guilty to child abuse in Duval County Circuit Court. Apart from two days in prison, the judge ordered him to serve three years of probation and pay a court fee of $769.

Meanwhile, locals in Jacksonville were shocked by the incident. “That’s just creepy, especially in an area like this where you want to feel safe, especially with your children,” one of the city’s residents, Olivia Hudson, said in a statement to Action News Jax after Morris Jr.’s arrest in July 2025.

Another local, Robert Morro, said, “I think it’s absolutely unacceptable, especially holding people against their will, that's just something that ain’t right.” A third resident, Cole Young, added, “You always got to watch. It’s crazy things that can happen like that.”