MIRAMAR, FLA. (WSVN) - The Broward State Attorney’s Office has decided to drop all charges against a 28-year-old man accused of fatally shooting another man in a Miramar Walgreens.
“The Broward State Attorney’s office declined to prosecute Jaime Taylor. The headline here is that an innocent man had his charges dropped,” said Andrew Rier, Taylor’s attorney.
Jaime Taylor appeared at a news conference with his attorneys as a free man after, he said, he acted in self-defense earlier this year inside the store located in the 2400 block of Southwest 101st Avenue.
“Unfortunately, that it had to happen. I just know, at the moment, it was killed or be killed,” he said.
Rier added Taylor would not be sitting next to them if he had not acted.
“I thank God he was able to defend himself because I don’t think he would be here if he wasn’t,” he said.
According to the arrest report, a cashier told responding officers that 27-year-old Anthony Souvenir was the aggressor and both men made it clear they were carrying a gun.
“He told me that, ‘Yes, I see you got a gun and I got one too.’ I shot when he pulled it out,” said Taylor.
Taylor said he fired two shots while Souvenir shot one before falling to the ground.
He faced manslaughter charges for the fatal shooting.
However, on Friday, after reviewing all of the evidence, the Broward State Attorney’s Office decided not to move forward with the case and called the incident a “justifiable homicide.”
In a close out memo, prosecutors conclude “the evidence in this case demonstrates that Taylor acted in reasonable self-defense.”
Taylor’s mother told 7News her son assured her from the beginning that he had done nothing wrong.
“I knew God would bring him back home to me. I got on the scene and when they rolled the windows down, he said ‘Momma, don’t cry. I’m going to be OK.'”
But Souvenir’s mother, Linda, said finding out about the news of the charges being dropped was like having her child die again.
“Justice wasn’t served. It wasn’t served. Why? Why wasn’t it served? Aren’t we all people?” she said. “My son is dead again. Dead.”
Souvenir’s parents are adamant that there’s no moving on for their family and they’re demanding the release of surveillance video that captured the confrontation.
“Where is the video?” asked Linda.
“They have to look at the video to see what my son did that day, for him to die for nothing,” said Souvenir’s father, Yves.
“All we ask [is] open the video. The video—the world needs to see the video,” said Linda.
As for Taylor’s future, he said he plans to finish his last year of college at Northwest Missouri State where he played football and focus on his family.
“Going to be the best father to my daughter and make sure I stay on the straight and narrow path so I don’t ever have to deal with this ever again,” he said.
Taylor’s attorneys said he had a license to carry his gun, but Souvenir did not as his criminal history did not let him.
7News have requested a copy of the surveillance video from inside the Walgreens, we’ve yet to hear back from authorities.
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