Greyston Garcia, who won Fla. 'stand your ground' case, killed in suspected gang crossfire

By: Barry Leibowitz
Topics: Daily Blotter

Greyston Garcia, who won Fla. 'stand your ground' self-defense case, was apparently killed in gang crossfire

/ WPEC

(CBS) MIAMI - South Florida man Greyston Garcia, who was cleared of murder charges this year based on Florida's 'stand your ground' self-defense law, was killed Tuesday night. Apparently he was an innocent bystander struck by a stray bullet in suspected gang crossfire, CBS Miami reported.

In March, Garcia was granted immunity from prosecution by a Miami-Dade judge in the death of Pedro Roteta, who broke into Garcia's truck and stole the radio on January 25.

Armed with a knife, Garcia chased him down and stabbed Roteta once, killing him, CBS Miami reported.

During the trial, the judge ruled that Garcia was within his rights to chase down Roteta to try to get his property back. She also ruled that Garcia acted in self-defense because Roteta had a swung a bag containing several stolen radios at his head, CBS Miami reported.

The judge, in part, based the ruling on the testimony of the medical examiner who said the bag of radios, weighing four to six pounds, could have caused serious bodily injured or possibly death if it had hit Garcia in the head.

Police believe Garcia, 26, had just left his job at a convenience store Tuesday evening around 9:30 p.m. when gunfire broke out in the area. A stray bullet shattered the passenger side window of Garcia's truck before it struck him.

The owner of Steven's Food Mart, where Garcia worked, said the store was open for business when he heard six guns shots. After calling 9-1-1 he discovered his employee was dead in his truck.

Police found Garcia in the vehicle and a critically injured 16-year old, Ronald Dwayne Jones, lying in a side street. The teen died en route to a trauma center. Investigators suspect the shooting was between two rival gangs.

Jones's mother told CBS Miami, "He was my baby. I miss everything about him. I miss all of his hugs and kisses."

She pleaded for help.

"Now this happened. I want to know who killed my baby. Just please come forward if you can help. We need assistance. It would mean a lot to me."

Complete coverage of "stand your ground'' on Crimesider

9 Comments +

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by ugacrew August 10, 2012 9:02 AM EDT

Mam,

"Your baby," killed somebody else's baby. A mother's hurt is unabated.

I can't believe this judge's ignorant ruling. She justified the taking of an individual's life for a piece of property when this man's life had not been in jeapardy. In my opinion, she is party to the crime.

I view this incident entirely different. The man lying on the sidewalk was a "hitman." He was then shot to protect the identity of those who ordered his death. As for the Stand Your Ground Law,
Florida is full of sharks. Some live in water near the beaches, some live on the and, but there are others who sit high and in disguise in many of their court rooms.

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by J_Kelling August 10, 2012 10:22 AM EDT: Point of fact, she "justified the taking of an individual's life" because this degenerate pestilence swung a big bag of sharp, pointy, heavy electronics at his head. As this could be a fatal attack, lethal force is authorized under law. It is a sad day for liberty and personal responsibility that Mr. Garcia was cut down, but he passes as a hero that rid this world of one more pile of human filth first. Many hats off to him and my deepest sympathies to his family. If Mr. (and I use that term loosely) Roteta had been brought up better perhaps he would still be around as well.


by ReckonedTruth July 10, 2012 12:34 PM EDT: it's not worth CHASING someone down because the person stole ITEMS from you.. its just items PPL..of which you may replace.. you can't replace a life.. I do believe in karma..

if those of you believe if you live by he gun-- you'll die by the gun..that's KARMA..

if you take a LIFE..when you don't have too..KARMA returns..; Reply to this comment

by ahendryx819 June 29, 2012 12:26 PM EDT

I can't say I agree. He didn't go out looking to start a fight; he was the victim of a crime, and he was defending himself. I believe in an eye for an eye when we're talking premeditated, brutal, outright murder, but that wasn't the case here. And he was getting off work when he was shot; he wasn't doing anything wrong; he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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by audemus June 30, 2012 4:36 AM EDT: baal....a human being is shot dead in his truck through no fault of his own, and you say, "Thankfully, karma got him." ? "Karma" didn't get @#%&....some brain-dead street punk with a gun and no I.Q. is what "got" him.

by 55minus5 June 29, 2012 9:39 AM EDT

An eye for an eye...

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by actionjack54 June 29, 2012 11:03 AM EDT: What exactly did he do to deserve being killed?


by 55minus5 June 29, 2012 11:19 AM EDT: Jack54, I don't say he deserved it exactly but it's a jungle over there. He had behaved according to the jungle rules, he got that back, too.


by Bojax39 June 29, 2012 5:12 PM EDT: by 55minus5: "...I don't say he deserved it exactly..."

Nonsense. That's EXACTLY what you're saying and you know it. If you ever find yourself killing another in self defense, remember your moronic eye-for-eye comment and take revenge on yourself. We'll send flowers....