The Key West man who shot and killed Garrett Hughes in the parking of the now-closed Conch Town Liquor & Lounge, hours after the Super Bowl on Feb. 13, 2023, remains in jail awaiting his murder trial — and a Dec. 9 hearing, at which defense attorneys will claim self-defense and ask for the charges to be dismissed on that basis.
Lloyd Preston Brewer III, known locally by Preston, will turn 59 in jail on Nov. 27. He is mounting a Stand Your Ground defense, claiming he killed Hughes, then 21, in self-defense, fearing that his life was in danger.
In court filings, Brewer’s defense attorney, Jerome Ballorotto, argues the entire case should be dismissed, claiming Brewer is immune from prosecution based on Florida’s Stand Your Ground law that allows people to use deadly force in self-defense without retreating if they are in a place they have a right to be and are not engaged in criminal activity. The defense only applies if the person reasonably believes they are threatened with imminent death or great bodily harm, and it only applies to people who are not the aggressor.
The defense claims Brewer was in fear for his life and felt threatened that night by Hughes, who the defense claims reached for a beer bottle and approached Brewer aggressively after Brewer warned Hughes that he was armed, according to defense filings.
Prosecutors with the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office have strongly disagreed with Brewer’s claim of self defense, but fully expected it.
Security footage captured the entire incident in the parking lot that night.
Prosecutors told the Keys Weekly a day after the shooting in February 2023 that the video shows a drunk and shirtless Hughes outside the bar, which was located in a building owned by Brewer and his family, urinating on the side of the neighboring building while wearing flip flops.
The video shows Brewer arriving and “exchanging words” with Hughes, said prosecutor Joe Mansfield, chief assistant state attorney, in February 2023.
“The shirtless victim was clearly intoxicated and urinating on the wall when the suspect approaches,” Mansfield said. “I suspect the shooter was annoyed by what he saw, confronted the kid, then pulls a gun and shoots him in the stomach, which proved fatal. There are no weapons on or near the victim, nor is the victim seen reaching for anything. Now, I’d bet my 401(k) that the suspect will file a self-defense, Stand Your Ground defense, but the allegation that he was justified in using deadly force is not substantiated by the video evidence in this case.”
In court filings opposing the defense motion to dismiss based on the Stand Your Ground law, Mansfield further denies Brewer’s self-defense claims on a number of legal grounds.
Mansfield points to the fact that a Stand Your Ground defense requires the person claiming it to fully admit to the acts for which he is charged. Brewer has never done so, instead claiming in documents that the shooting was accidental.
“When detailing how Garrett Hughes was shot/how the firearm was discharged, absent is a
clear admission that the defendant did in fact shoot/discharge the firearm,” the prosecution argues. “What the defense alleges in its motion is that either the firearm discharged accidentally and/or it was Garrett Hughes who discharged the firearm. Neither factual scenario would allow the defense the immunity afforded under (Stand Your Ground).”
Further, Mansfield writes in his motion, video evidence “shows that Hughes did not make any aggressive gestures or movements towards Brewer before Brewer initiated the physical contact; Hughes never grabbed or held the beer bottle in a threatening manner; Hughes attempted to move away from Brewer but Brewer intercepted him; and Brewer initiated the physical contact. … Brewer’s initial provocation of the confrontation and failure to escape or withdraw is grounds to deny his motion,” Mansfield argues in his motion for Judge Mark Jones to deny Brewer’s Stand Your Ground claim.
Brewer’s next hearing is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 9 at 10 a.m., when Jones is likely to hear arguments for and against the Stand Your Ground claim, as well as the defense’s arguments that Brewer be released on bond pending trial.
