FL: Murder charges dropped over shootout: "Murder charges will not be filed against Tavarious China Smith in connection to a fatal shooting outside Club Elite in Palmetto, according to the office of State Attorney Earl Moreland. Smith acted in self defense Dec. 19 when 23-year-old Breon Mitchell was killed from a gunshot wound to the torso, the State Attorney’s Office has determined. Instead, Smith, 28, will face a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon. The shooting occurred at about 2:30 a.m. when Mitchell approached Smith as he was putting on a ski mask, according to reports. Smith asked him why he was wearing a mask and, if he was going to kill him, to just do it. That’s when Mitchell took out a firearm and shot at Smith several times in the arm, reports state. Smith, a convicted drug dealer, fired back twice before the men ran on opposite sides of the street, according to reports; Smith then fired two more shots at Mitchell, one of which killed him."


FL: State drops charge against man who shot fleeing intruder: "A Key Largo businessman facing a gun charge that carries a mandatory 25-year prison sentence saw the case against him dropped Jan. 24. Dimitrios Theodosiou, 62, was charged Dec. 13 with aggravated battery with a firearm after shooting a man on Theodosiou's Poinsettia Drive property at 1 a.m. The apparent intruder, Marlon Perez Monzon, 18, was wounded in the ankle after he tried to escape by scrambling over a fence. Prosecutors and investigators initially concluded the shooting was not covered under the state's Castle Doctrine or Stand Your Ground laws that allow people to defend themselves when in fear of their lives. The fleeing Monzon did not pose "an imminent threat" when shot, an investigator summarized. But by Jan. 24, Assistant Monroe County State Attorney Colleen Dunne had reversed that position. "[G]iven the circumstances and location of the alleged offense [under Florida law], the evidence is insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," Dunne wrote in a filing that declares the state's intent to halt prosecution."