Building owner shoots customer urinating on the side of a Key West bar, prosecutors say
A Key West business owner is facing a murder charge after prosecutors say he fatally shot a man who was urinating on the side of a building he owns.
The owner claimed self-defense, but prosecutors said security camera footage that captured Monday’s deadly encounter contradicts his story.
“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/FLKeysnews.com.
Police say Lloyd “Preston” Brewer, 57, shot Garret Hughes, 21, in the parking lot of Conch Town Liquor and Lounge at 3340 N. Roosevelt Blvd. Brewer owns the building where the bar is located, but does not own the bar, Mansfield said.
When officers arrived around 12:30 a.m., they found Hughes lying on the ground and wounded, said Alyson Crean, Key West Police Department spokeswoman.
“Officers began assisting with lifesaving measures for the victim and immediately detained the suspect who was still on scene,” Crean said. “Officers recovered the firearm that was used and secured the scene.”
Mansfield said Brewer shot Hughes once with a handgun.
Key West Fire Rescue paramedics took Hughes to Lower Keys Medical Center “where he was pronounced deceased shortly after,” Crean said.
The charges
Mansfield said Brewer will be charged with second-degree murder and discharging a firearm while intoxicated. He’s scheduled to make his first appearance before a judge Tuesday.
Brewer could not be reached for comment, and information about his legal counsel was not immediately known.
Mansfield said security camera footage he obtained through a warrant shows Hughes walk outside of the bar with no shirt on and urinate against the side of the building.
Then, Brewer approaches him, lifts up his shirt, pulls out a pistol and fires one shot into Hughes’ stomach, Mansfield said. He then fires a second shot that did not hit Hughes, according to Mansfield.
Mansfield said everyone involved in the incident was intoxicated. Hughes was at the bar with several friends, who, immediately after he was shot, rushed to his side. He told them he was having trouble breathing.
Doctors and nurses at Lower Keys Medical Center were prepping Hughes to be airlifted to a Miami-Dade County hospital, but “he died before they got him off the ground,” Mansfield said.
