Victim was shot in the back but lawyers are ready to argue stand your ground defense

Bond has been set at $250,000 for the man accused of killing another man during an argument over a woman.

Terry “Boo-Man” McDonald, 24, is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Robert Eugene Brewer, 22, Friday night.

Deputies were called to the 2300 block of First Avenue East in Palmetto to reports of a shooting and found Brewer suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. Brewer was pronounced dead at the scene.

McDonald was identified as the shooter by an eyewitness at the scene, Assistant State Attorney Art Brown said during a first appearance hearing before Circuit Judge Deno Economou on Wednesday afternoon. Other witnesses, including the defendant’s brother, also confirmed McDonald had been at the scene and gotten into an argument with the victim before the shooting, Brown added.

Brown asked that McDonald be held without bond as under a Florida Supreme Court ruling that allows for a defendant to be held without bond before trial if “the proof of guilt is evident and the presumption of guilt is great.”

McDonald could have a strong basis for a stand-your-ground or self-defense claim, Assistant Public Defender Anne Hunter argued during the hearing.

“The victim was the one that initiated the altercation,” Hunter said. “Mr. Brewer has a prior history of being a suspect in homicides.”

But Brewer was shot in the back and the back of the neck, lead homicide Detective Dan Dickerman testified.

Economou set bond at $250,000 and ordered McDonald not have any contact with the victim’s family or any of the witnesses in the case.

Brewer was arrested and charged in March 2016 with second-degree murder in the Dec. 19, 2015, fatal shooting of Kevin McCants. The State Attorney’s Office later dropped the charges when some of the witnesses recanted their initial statements.

He had also been a suspect in other homicides, Dickerman acknowledged in court Wednesday.

McDonald was also well known to detectives, he added.

McDonald is currently on probation for convictions of possession of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver, possession of heroin, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended, revoked or expired license, court records show. His prior record also includes convictions for carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a controlled substance, according to court records.

On Saturday, the sheriff’s office identified McDonald as the suspected shooter after detectives had obtained a warrant for his arrest. McDonald was not apprehended until early Tuesday morning.

Following his arrest, McDonald invoked his Fifth Amendment right, refusing to talk to detectives, Dickerman said. But as the detective was walking away McDonald called Dickerman back.

“He said that he could tell me that he was there and that he had gotten in an argument but that he didn’t shoot him,” Dickerman said.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Victim was shot in the back but lawyers are ready to argue stand your ground defense."