Homeless man allegedly shot and killed by prominent realtor Scott Sherman in Lodi
LODI – The family of a homeless man believes a suspect reportedly shot and killed him for no reason. The victim has been identified as 53-year-old Felix Makinano.
Scott Sherman, 39, was officially charged with first-degree murder with a gun enhancement, prosecutors announced Thursday. Sherman could face up to 50 years to life behind bars if found guilty. Sherman is being held without bail.
Both men are known throughout the community, which has people closest to them questioning what happened early Tuesday morning.
"The hardest thing about the whole thing was telling his children what happened," said Anthony Makinano, the victim's brother.
According to police, officers found Makinano with gunshot wounds after responding to gunshots in the area of School Street. Later, detectives found Sherman a block away at home, according to his defense attorney, Allen Sawyer.
Sawyer believes the case is a matter of self-defense.
"I'm confident when we do [go to court], Scott will come out as being a person who reacted to a situation where he thought his life, or someone who he cares about life, was endangered," Sawyer said.
Makinano's family told CBS13 the father of two fell on hard times after working closely with the Salvation Army. He worked odd jobs to survive on the streets.
A woman asking to remain anonymous described him as being nice.
"[He was] always happy. Always just very friendly," she said.
Those closest to Makinano say he'd been accused of being too close to Sherman's car.
"How is [Sherman] claiming self-defense when he was the one pursued the whole…," Anthony Makinano said. "And from what I hear, he was kicked out the bar prior to that."
As for the drug charges, Sherman's lawyer said the drug in question was marijuana, but police say that was not what they found.
At the moment, there are several holes in the story. The suspect's lawyer claims his client did live and rent out the apartment unit SWAT had to enter to take someone into custody. Investigators could not confirm who the unit belonged to or who lived there. Detectives also said it is not clear how the victim and suspect knew each other, if at all.
"However, there is no evidence pointing to the shooting being about drugs," Sawyer said.
A woman was arrested and did face similar charges, but those were later dropped after police ruled out her involvement.
The attorney says his client's history speaks for itself.
"He's retired from the military, honorably. He's a very successful businessman, realtor," Sawyer said. "I think he deserves the presumption of innocence. Everybody does, but especially someone who has exhibited good character like he has."
