An autopsy done on Markeis McGlockton, the African American man shot dead in a Florida parking-space dispute by a white man who invoked the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense laws indicates the victim was turning away from the shooter when he was killed.
McGlockton was shot in the left side of his chest, two inches to the left of his nipple, in the July incident in Clearwater, Florida, according to the autopsy report released by the Pasco and Pinellas Counties Medical Examiner.
The single gunshot fired by Michael Drejka ripped through both of McGlockton’s lungs, his heart and fractured two of his ribs before lodging in his right armpit, the report made public on Tuesday says.
The report seems to support statements made by McGlockton’s girlfriend, Britany Jacobs, that he was turning away and retreating from Drejka when he was shot.
The autopsy also found that the 28-year-old McGlockton had traces of the drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy, in his system.
McGlockton was shot after he came out of a Circle A store and saw Drejka, 48, berating Jacobs about parking in a handicap zone. Surveillance video showed McGlockton shoving Drejka to the ground and Drejka, who had a legal concealed weapons permit, pulling a .40 caliber Glock handgun and shooting McGlockton.
Drejka was arrested and charged with manslaughter in the incident, but lawyers for McGlockton’s family want to see the charge upped to murder.
The autopsy report was made public on Tuesday, a day after Drejka posted $100,000 bail and was released from jail.
Drejka was arrested on Aug. 13, more than three weeks after the McGlockton’s death.
The shooting sparked days of protests in Clearwater and demands from demonstrators that Drejka be charged with murder.
In a jailhouse interview earlier this month, Drejka told WTSP that he felt his life was in danger after McGlockton “tackled” him to the ground.
“I followed the law the way I felt the law was supposed to be followed,” Drejka said of the state’s “stand your ground” law. “I cleared every hurdle that that law had put in front of me.”
