Lloyd Preston Brewer III, a Key West business mogul who shot and killed a man outside a bar in the early morning after the Super Bowl in February, has now been indicted by a grand jury for first-degree murder.
The victim, 21-year-old Garrett Hughes, was a former high school star athlete. The incident occurred when Hughes was urinating on the outside wall of Conch Town Liquor and Lounge around midnight on February 13.
Brewer, 57, who owns the building that houses the bar, was a customer that night. When police arrived, he told them he had three beers, but prosecutors claim he was intoxicated.
According to security camera footage, Hughes, who was also drinking at the bar, walked outside and started urinating on the wall. Brewer then walked up to him, pulled out a pistol and shot at least one time at Hughes’ torso. Medics took him to Lower Keys Medical Center, where he died.
Brewer has pleaded not guilty and says the shooting was in self-defense. But Assistant Monroe County State Attorney Joseph Mansfield said back in February that “there is no justifiable claim to self-defense” since Hughes was “never armed and never advanced on” Brewer.
When he was taken in by Key West police officers, Brewer recounted to them that he walked outside and saw Hughes urinating on the wall. He then approached him and asked him why he couldn’t go to the bathroom in the bar.
According to Brewer, Hughes “became more agitated,” walked towards Brewer in a “threatening manner” and moved his hand to his side as if he was armed. Brewer then warned Hughes that he was armed but the younger man did not listen. Brewer later told officers that he feared for his life and “stood his ground.”
Florida is famously a “stand your ground” state, which allows people to shoot when they feel threatened.
But the grand jury ruled that Brewer shot Hughes with a “premeditated design to effect the death of a human being.”
Brewer has been held in Monroe County jail without bond since the incident. His next court appearance is set for July 6.
