A restaurant server slain late Sunday may have been shot for his tip money, a family member said Tuesday.

Investigators with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office told the family of Justin VanMeter that the 28-year-old father of a 3-month-old son apparently stopped for cigarettes at the Hypoluxo Food Mart at about 10:45 p.m., following a double shift at the Cracker Barrel in Boynton Beach. He took out his tip money to pay for them, said Julia Renee Walton, VanMeter’s cousin.

Walton said PBSO told her family that the men behind him at the checkout counter saw his cash, followed him out of the convenience store at Hypoluxo Road and San Castle Boulevard and shot him for the cash. The amount of money VanMeter had with him was unavailable Tuesday.

"He worked a long day and just wanted to go home," Walton said Tuesday while holding back sobs. The store was about one-half mile from VanMeter’s home.

Mcintosh Pierre-Paul, 25, of Lake Worth and Jean Mary Marcherno, 20, of suburban Boynton Beach were arrested Tuesday morning on first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm charges in the shooting death of VanMeter, the sheriff’s office said. They will be seen before a judge Wednesday morning at the Palm Beach County Jail to determine bond.

The fatal shooting was the 64th confirmed homicide in Palm Beach County this year and the first in the Lantana area since September 2016, according to a Palm Beach Post database.

Walton said she first heard rumors about what had happened from her mother, but she didn’t believe they were real. Because VanMeter didn’t have a cellphone, she called his landline for answers. His older brother picked up. Walton asked where VanMeter was.

"He’s dead, Julia," she quoted his brother as saying. He then told her about the dispute over the tip money.

VanMeter’s immediate family denied to comment, with members saying they were still coping with his death. They still haven’t seen his body or thought much about his funeral, Walton said.

A clerk at the food mart Tuesday said he recognized VanMeter when he saw his photo but added that he hadn’t been in the store recently. He didn’t recognize the two men arrested. The clerk, who did not want to give his name, said violent crime is rare in the area near the store. He wasn’t working the night of the shooting, but he hasn’t seen anything more serious than a robbery in his past nine years at the store.

Walton said VanMeter was in a relationship and that he and and his girlfriend had a 3-month-old son named Ethan. After his son was born, he "buckled down" to provide for him by picking up extra shifts and working many doubles. He was working on moving his girlfriend of almost a year in with him and his family.

"He was the happiest I’ve ever seen him with this baby," Walton said.

She started two online fundraising pages Tuesday on Facebook. One for VanMeter’s family to support funeral expenses, and the other to support his girlfriend and child. The goal for the funeral expenses is set at $10,000 and the goal to support his child and girlfriend is at $5,000.

Walton grew up with VanMeter and said she thought of him as a brother. They attended Park Vista and Boynton Beach high schools together, she said. He was popular everywhere he went because of what she called his goofy, playful persona. Growing up, he was always outside playing football with friends and played on the Boynton Beach High School’s junior varsity team for a short time.

"He was just fun, so much fun," she said. "There are so many people who will remember him. He had so many friends."