A Florida building owner was arrested after allegedly shooting and killing an unarmed man for urinating on his property, state attorney Dennis Ward told Local10 News.
Lloyd Preston Brewer III, 57, the owner of a Key West building, confronted Garrett Hughes, 21, just after midnight Monday after the latter allegedly urinated along the exterior wall of the building, according to Local10 News.
Surveillance video showed an apparently drunk Brewer exit his vehicle and approach a shirtless and unarmed Hughes, Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward told the outlet. “[Hughes] is kind of stumbling around and [Brewer] pulls up his shirt, pulls out a gun and pumps a shot into his stomach,” according to Ward. (RELATED: REPORT: Off-Duty NYPD Officer Arrested For Drunk Driving After Allegedly Slamming Into Several Cars, Firing Gun)
THIS JUST IN: A Key West businessman faces a second-degree murder charge after prosecutors say he shot and killed an unarmed man urinating along the side of a building he owns overnight. https://t.co/6arwoTLU6U
— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) February 13, 2023
After allegedly shooting Hughes, Brewer then called 911 and reportedly claimed he had shot Hughes in self-defense, something Ward argued wasn’t supported by surveillance footage of the incident, according to Local10.
“There is no justifiable claim to self-defense because the kid was never armed and never advanced on the shooter. The shooter advanced on him,” Assistant Monroe County State Attorney Joseph Mansfield told the Miami Herald, echoing Ward’s statement.
When officers arrived on the scene, they found Hughes lying on the ground, injured, and began life-saving measures, Key West Police Department spokeswoman Alyson Crean told the Miami Herald. Officers detained Brewer and recovered the firearm, she added.
Hughes was rushed to Lower Keys Medical Center. Medical personnel were readying him to be airlifted to Miami-Dade County hospital when he died, Mansfield told the outlet.
Brewer is facing charges of second-degree murder and discharging a firearm while intoxicated. He is expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday, the Miami Herald reported.