CLEARWATER, Fla. — Thursday marks the second day of testimony in the trial of the shooter who killed an unarmed man during a 2018 argument over a handicap parking spot outside a Clearwater convenience store.
Michael Drejka, 49, is charged with manslaughter in the death of Markeis McGlockton.
The prosecution wrapped up its case Thursday.
Prosecutors say Drejka picked an argument with McGlockton's girlfriend, Britany Jacobs, about the couple being parked in the reserved space while McGlockton and his 5-year-old son ran into the Circle A Food Store on Sunset Point Road in Clearwater. When McGlockton walked back outside and saw the ongoing confrontation, he shoved Drejka to the ground. Seconds later, Drejka shot McGlockton once in the chest. McGlockton collapsed in front of his family and died.
During opening statements on Wednesday, both the defense and prosecution made it clear that surveillance video of the shooting is a key piece of evidence.
Assistant State Attorney Fred Schaub did his best to paint Drejka as a hothead, inexplicably concerned about where people park. The prosecutor even got on the floor of the courtroom to recreate the deadly confrontation between Drejka and Markeis McGlockton.
Drejka’s lawyers say he was acting in self-defense. According to them, the video shows McGlockton violently pushing Drejka to the ground. It’s an 11-second confrontation that they say needs to be considered in real-time -- not picked apart frame by frame.
The case has drawn the attention of prominent civil rights advocates, including Rev. Al Sharpton, because McGlockton, a black man, was unarmed when he was killed. As attorneys were questioning potential jurors earlier in the week, they asked them questions about whether any of them would have problems with the racial components of the case.
Prosecutors called Richard Kelly as their first witness. Like McGlockton, He is a a young, black man. Kelly testified that five months earlier, on Valentine’s Day 2018, Drejka had threatened to kill him for parking in the exact same space at the same convenience store.
After the lunch break on Wednesday, prosecutors called Britany Jacobs to the stand. She was McGlockton’s longtime girlfriend and the mother of their four children. The two knew each other for 13 years.
“He was my soulmate and my partner,” she said.
Jacobs testified Drejka was the aggressor the day of the deadly confrontation. But Drejka’s defense lawyers pressed Jacobs on that assertion, getting her to admit that Drejka never threatened her directly.
"You guys are just having a plain verbal argument. A difference of opinion?" the defense asked.
"Right," Jacobs said.
Still to come is the more technical evidence in the case. The medical examiner is expected to testify about the angle of the entry wound. Prosecutors will also attempt to pick apart Drejka’s own words to police when he discussed the confrontation directly after the shooting.
Testimony resumed at 8:45 Thursday morning and is streaming in its entirety on wtsp.com and the 10News YouTube page.
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