CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The investigation into the July shooting of Markeis McGlockton has been turned over to the State Attorney's office, Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
- State Attorney now has 'stand your ground' shooting case
- Markeis McGlockton shot, killed July 19 in Clearwater
- Alleged shooter Michael Drejka has not been charged
The sheriff has stated he believes the shooting is a stand your ground case. The alleged shooter, Michael Drejka, has not been arrested or charged. The shooting happened July 19.
Surveillance video showed the 28-year-old McGlockton shoving Drejka, 47, to the ground after Drejka confronted Jacobs for parking in a handicapped spot outside the Circle A Food Store on Sunset Point.
Drejka shot McGlockton in response in front of his three young children. McGlockton later died of that wound.
The State Attorney's Office will now review the case and decide on whether charges will be filed.
Faced with now having to wait on that decision, members of McGlockton's family still were pleased at least that things were moving forward.
"It is exciting that we are getting a step closer to justice for Markeis McGlockton," said family attorney Michelle Rayner. "However, there still needs to be an indictment, there still needs to be an arrest and there still ultimately needs to be a conviction. So while I am happy, I’m cautiously optimistic."
What happens now
Bay area defense attorney Jay Hebert is not related to this case, but has tried a number of "stand your ground" cases. He shared with us an idea of what might happen next.
"Typically what will happen is a state attorney will do a live invest, talk to all of the witnesses and they will make a filing decision," Hebert explained.
As far as a timetable goes, he said there's likely no rush.
"There’s no timeline, because speedy trial and the arrest hasn’t occurred," Hebert said. "So I think they will look at all the evidence. they will look at all the things that happened directly before that, and I think they’ll even enlarge it to look at other events that we now know have been involved in this case."
Hebert went on to say a number of different things could happen in this case. The state attorney could make the decision whether to file charges or they could allow a grand jury to decide.