A Florida businessman, Lloyd Preston Brewer, 57, has been charged with second-degree murder after shooting and killing a man he caught urinating on the side of his building.
Garrett Hughes, 21, was allegedly shot by Brewer behind the Conch Town Liquor & Lounge on Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West, Florida after midnight on February 13.
Brewer owns the small strip mall where the bar is located.
Police released surveillance footage capturing Hughes’ last moments. It shows a shirtless Hughes urinating on the building when Brewer approaches and confronts him before raising his arms and shooting him in the stomach.
A 911 call made by Brewer after the shooting has also been released in which Brewer can be heard saying that he shot Hughes in self-defense because he believed Hughes had been coming toward him aggressively.
However, investigators concluded that the surveillance footage did not support his self-defense claims and Brewer himself could not identify anything aggressive or threatening about the victim’s behavior and denied having seen the victim with any weapons.
According to a police report, Brewer can be seen going into a shooting stance before firing the fatal shot into Hughes’ abdomen.
On the other hand, Brewer’s defense attorney, Chris Mancini, has disputed the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office’s interpretation of the surveillance video and argued that the evidence did substantiate a “Stand Your Ground” defense.
Hughes’ parents, John Hughes and Lesley Touzalin, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Brewer and related entities. The lawsuit does not mention the bar but names other entities, alleging their negligence in serving the shooter, Brewer, a known alcoholic, alcohol in excessive amounts which led to his unprovoked shooting of an unarmed man.
At his arraignment in February, Brewer’s attorneys agreed with the judge’s ruling that he be held without bond in the Monroe County Jail. He is due to appear for a pre-trial hearing on May 3.
