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Police: Tile worker's father shoots, kills contractor to defend his son

The job site argument started over a payment issue between a general contractor and a tile worker, according to police.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A man who shot and killed a general contractor Friday afternoon at a St. Petersburg construction site won't face criminal charges, according to police.

It happened just after 1:30 p.m. at a vacant home being remodeled on Farragut Drive N.

Police say the argument started when 38-year-old general contractor Mostafa M. Ah Abdo got into a disagreement with a sub-contractor tile worker over payment.

"At the height of the argument, the tile worker started smashing completed tile work," the police department wrote.

That's when officers say Abdo went to his truck, grabbed a firearm and threatened the tile worker with it.

The tile worker's father, 52-year-old Yamel Benitez, who was also laying tile at the site, then pulled out his own firearm and shot Abdo, "to defend his son," police said.

Abdo died from his injuries.

Investigators say they determined Benitez's actions were "justifiable self-defense," and he was not arrested.

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