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Florida man pleads not guilty to shooting teen to death over loud music
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
Michael Dunn is accused of the shooting death of Jordan Davis.
By Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News
A Florida gun collector has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge alleging that he opened fire on a car full of unarmed teenagers, killing one, in an altercation that police say stemmed from loud music.
Michael David Dunn, 45, acted "as any responsible firearms owner would have," his lawyer said of the Friday evening incident at a gas station outside a convenience store in Jacksonville, Fla.
Dunn and his girlfriend were in Jacksonville for his son's wedding when they pulled up in their car next to the teens. Police allege that while the girlfriend was in the store, Dunn told Jordan Russell Davis, 17, and his three friends to turn down their music.
"It was loud," Jacksonville homicide Lt. Rob Schoonover said of the teens' music. "They admitted that. That's not a reason for someone to open fire."
After an exchange of words, Dunn began shooting with a handgun, Schoonover said.
"Nobody else in that vehicle was struck; it was just our victim [Davis], which was lucky because the vehicle was shot eight or nine times," Schoonover said.
Davis was in the back seat and was struck twice, reported The Orlando Sentinel.
Dunn and his girlfriend drove off and spent the night at their hotel, according to Schoonover, but witnesses took down his license plate number. Police arrested him Saturday morning at his home in Satellite Beach, Fla., on one charge of murder and three charges of attempted murder.
"His side of the story is he felt threatened and that is the reason he took action," Schoonover said.
On Monday, Dunn — a gun collector who shot at local gun ranges, according to authorities — pleaded not guilty in Brevard County court, with his attorney describing his actions as self-defense.
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"Once all the facts come out, that what really happened is known, it will be very clear that Mr. Dunn acted responsibly and as any responsible firearms owner would have acted under these same circumstances," said his attorney, Robin Lemonidis, reported FirstCoastNews.com, the website for NBC station WTLV in Jacksonville.
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Jordan Russell Davis, 17, was killed in his car outside a convenience store.
Dunn's 20-year-old daughter, Rebecca, told FirstCoastNews.com, "he just reacted," adding that his family was rallying behind him.
"Everyone in his life loves him and everyone who met him, all of my friends are praying for him," she said.
Dunn, who had been in Brevard County Jail after his arrest, was transferred back to Duval County, where the shooting happened, on Tuesday. His girlfriend won't face any charges.
"When she came out [of the convenience store], she asked him, 'What's going on?'" Schoonover said. "Supposedly his statement was, 'I just fired at these kids.' I don't know if he knew that he struck anyone in the vehicle. The next morning, I guess when they woke up in the hotel and saw on the news that someone was killed, that's when they got in their car and fled."
Davis, the victim, lived with his father in Florida, but was to be buried in Georgia — where he was born — on Saturday, reported jacksonville.com.
Davis' mother, Lucia McBath, who lives outside of Atlanta, asked that her son's death not be thought of as a hate crime.
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"We don't know where he was or what kind of dark place he was in at that moment, but something snapped in that man. Something snapped in him, so we are not looking at it as the hate crime because that's not going to honor Jordan," McBath told FirstCoastNews.com.
She said the fact that Dunn drove off after shooting Davis was "unconscionable."
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Davis, a high school junior, had just gotten a job at McDonald's, picking up some extra cash after work, his mom said. At Thanksgiving the day before his death, he said he was thankful to God for his family, his mom told FirstCoastNews.com.
"He was just so excited and happy" for everything in his life, she said.
She said the family is starting a foundation in his memory to help at-risk children.
"It didn't matter to Jordan if you needed the help, you needed the support — he was going to give it to you no matter what side of the tracks you came from. So we feel it's really important to honor that in him," she said.
Ron Davis, the victim's father, added: "I was looking forward to as a parent to being there when he got married, being there when he found love. All the things that I'm not going to be able to do is what pains me."
Claims he saw a shotgun flashed...
Michael Dunn Claims Shotgun Was Wielded Prompting His Shooting Of Jordan Davis
The Huffington Post | By Leigh Owens Posted: 11/28/2012 9:39 pm EST Updated: 11/28/2012 10:25 pm EST
Michael Dunn, the 45- year old Florida man who is invoking the controversial ‘Stand Your Ground Law’ after the shooting of 17-year old Jordan Davis appeared in court today and is officially being charged with second degree murder.
According to Dunn’s attorney, Robin Lemonidis, he saw a shotgun in the SUV, while the teens yelled threatening, obscenities.
“Kill that mother**er, that mother**er dead, you dead bi**h, and then he sees that much of the shotgun coming up over the rim of the SUV which is up higher than his Jetta, Lemonidis told reporters. And it’s-all he sees are heavily tinted windows, which are up and the back windows which are down, and the car has at least four black men in it. And he doesn’t know how old anybody is, he doesn’t know anything, but he knows a shotgun when he sees one.”
Lemonidis says his client was scared after the exchange he had with Dunn. He believed that the teenagers would call friends and have him killed. After the shooting she claims Dunn fled, thinking his eight shots had only scared the teens.
“He didn’t think he had harmed anybody and he just thought he had scared them off and he wanted to report it, but he didn’t want to go in a sense throw himself to the wolves, in a strange city without representation.”
On the night of the shooting however, Dunn heard on the local news station that the shooting had been fatal. Despite this fact he fled the city, driving 159 miles to his home in Brevard County and was arrested the Saturday following the shooting.
Davis’s mother, Lucia McBath spoke out for the first time on Wednesday, on the killing of her only son.
“I don’t know what went on in that car, and I don’t know what those, what the kids or what the, he said or what he said to Jordan. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. You shot him over some music. And he was in the car. And there’s no, there’s no logical reason, there’s nothing logical you can say to make me think you were threatened.”
McBath says that Dunn will answer to god for what he’s done.
This case once again brings into question Florida's controversial 'Stand Your Ground Law,' which critics have said gives individuals the protection they need to be vigilantes. It is unclear weather or not Dunn's self-defense claim is justified under this defense. The law itself does not specify what constitutes a person feeling 'threatened.'
A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
In the wake of the Trayvon Martin killing, Florida Governor Rick Scott, (R) created the 'Stand Your Ground' Task Force comprised of government officials, citizens and activists. Earlier this month the findings of the task force revealed that the 'Stand Your Ground' Law does not need to be revamped or dissolved.