CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) – The man accused in the controversial Stand Your Ground shooting death in Clearwater last month is now facing charges.
On Monday, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced the State Attorney had finished reviewing the case and decided to charge 48-year-old Michael Drejka with manslaughter.
Deputies say Drejka shot and killed 28-year-old Markeis McGlockton on July 19 in the parking lot of the Circle A Food Store on Sunset Point Road.
According to investigators, Drejka approached McGlockton’s girlfriend, 24-year-old Britany Jacobs, who was parked in a handicapped parking spot outside the store. Drejka started to argue with Jacobs while she waited for McGlockton and his 5-year-old son, who had gone into the store.
Surveillance video shows McGlockton leave the store and push Drejka to the ground. Drejka then shot McGlockton in the chest.
At the time, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri explained that Drejka was not arrested because the incident fell under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. The law grants immunity to anyone who uses deadly force if they can reasonably claim they were defending themselves.
The case was turned over to the State Attorney, who completed his review and issued an arrest warrant. Deputies arrested Drejka Monday morning and booked him into the Pinellas County Jail, where he is being held on $100,000 bond.
“I support the State Attorney’s decision and will have no further comment as the case continues to work its way through the criminal justice system,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said in a statement.
The case gained national attention last month and drew heavy criticism of the Stand Your Ground law. Last week, Rev. Al Sharpton visited Clearwater and rallied to end it. Sheriff Gualtieri responded to the rally the next day, telling Sharpton to “Go back to New York” and “mind your own business.”
McGlockton’s loved ones have insisted from the beginning that the shooting does not fall under the Stand Your Ground law. They say he was just protecting his family.
Benjamin Crump, the attorney who represented Trayvon Martin’s family, has been hired to represent McGlockton’s girlfriend. The rest of his family hired attorney Michele Rayner of Rayner Robinson Law Firm. Neither attorney has released a statement yet on Drejka’s arrest.
After the incident, Drejka remained silent and declined to comment on what happened.
Last week, News Channel 8 obtained new reports showing he has a history of road rage encounters. 8 On Your Side also previously spoke with a truck driver who claimed that he also got into a dispute with Drejka over the same handicapped space the led to last month’s fatal shooting.
