The man who police say killed a teenager at a Southside gas station is now charged with 2nd Degree Murder.
45-year-old Michael Dunn is accused of firing eight or nine shots Friday night into an SUV at the Gate station at Southside and Baymeadows during a confrontation over loud music. 17-year-old Jordan Davis, a senior at Wolfson High School, was killed.
Dunn, a gun collector, told police he felt threatened during an argument with Davis after he complained the music coming from the SUV was too loud. Dunn exchanged words with four teenagers in the SUV, and he eventually fired eight or nine shot.
"They were listening to a little music. It was loud, they admitted that, but, I mean, that's not reason for someone to open fire on them," said Lt. Rob Schoonover with JSO.
At a news conference Monday morning Jacksonville Police said Dunn and his girlfriend were attending his son's wedding the night of the shooting, and that witnesses took down the tag number on Dunn's car, which led to his weekend arrest at his home in Brevard County.
Witness testimony may become that much more important in this case because there were no security cameras to capture the shooting.
It's unclear at this point why Dunn felt threatened during the confrontation, but initial investigation didn't show that anyone in the vehicle had a gun or was a threat. Dunn's lawyer, Robin Lemonidis, tells WOKV that her client had a gun pointed at him. While that conflicts with police reports, which say no weapons were found in the vehicle, Lemonidis says that doesn't mean there never was a gun. The question of whether or not Dunn was actually in danger of harm at the time that he decided to pull the trigger will be one that ultimately decides whether or not 'Stand Your Ground' self-defense laws apply.
"The question for a jury is going to be do they believe that there was a gun," says WOKV's legal expert Mark Rubin.
Rubin believes this case will hinge heavily on witness testimony and the credibility of Dunn's testimony if he decides to testify. State attorney Angela Corey says her office plans to "vigorously prosecute" and that with the number of 'Stand Your Ground' defenses they see on a regular basis, they're more than prepared to take on this one.
"You have to look at every aspect of the case, every detail," said Corey. She drew comparisons to the recent Jacksonville case involving Marissa Alexander, saying that piecing together the timeline of events and exactly who did what is crucial to prosecuting against a 'Stand Your Ground' defense because so much hinges on a moment's decision.
Davis, shown above in a Facebook profile picture, is the second Wolfson High School student killed in the past three months. On August 25, Janay Jackson was killed in her bed when a car crashed through the wall of her room.
Michael Dunn is being held without bond and his arraignment is scheduled for December 19th.
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