Trial begins for Pensacola man charged with shooting friend in the back of the head
A murder trial began Tuesday for a Pensacola man accused of shooting a friend in the back of the head in 2020.
Stefan Gislason, 30, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Dillon Shanks. Gislason allegedly shot and killed Shanks at a home on Durango Street on April 20, 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown.
"This case is deadly serious," Assistant State Attorney Matt Gordon told the jury in his opening statement Tuesday. "It's a case about actions and hard, cruel consequences — the pull of a firearm's trigger and the extinguishment of a human being's life."
Background: Pensacola man who police say admitted to killing house guest set for jury selection
Original report: Pensacola man charged with first-degree murder, accused of killing house guest
Gordon used his opening statement to tell the jury that Gislason fired one shot into the back of Shanks' head while Shanks was attempting to leave after a drunken argument.
"The shot caused Dillon Shanks to fall forward on to an armload of clothing and personal items he was carrying at the time," he told the jury. "He was carrying clothing because Stefan Gislason was ordering him to leave the house. Dillon Shanks was complying."
The only two witnesses in the case, Gislason's girlfriend at the time, Brittany Johnson, and Michael Marshall, were both outside of the home when they heard a gunshot, and both told authorities they saw Gislason display a firearm during an argument with Shanks.
Gislason's defense attorneys, Chris Crawford and Tony Henderson, contended that Shanks' death was a result of a fight over Gislason's gun when he forced Shanks to leave.
"You're going to understand from the evidence from Ms. Johnson and others that the relationship got to the point that sometimes when the drinking got heavy, Mr. Shanks had to be asked to leave," Henderson explained to the jury. "There are times that when (Gislason) had to ask (Shanks) to leave, that he had to escort him out with a firearm."
Henderson said on previous occasions, Gislason was able to ask Shanks to leave "with no harm to anyone," but when Shanks "drank liquor, the evidence tells you that he got mean."
After Gislason's arrest on April 20, 2020, he was released on $250,000 bail on Aug. 13, 2020, and will not be in custody during the trial.
The trial is scheduled for three days. Because courts were closed Wednesday in observance of Yom Kippur, Gislason's trial is set to resume Thursday morning and end Friday.
Benjamin Johnson can be reached at bjohnson@pnj.com or 850-435-8578
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola man Stefan Gislason begins murder trial for shooting in 2020
