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

(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."

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