A Key West real estate kingpin who shot and killed a 21-year-old former high school football star for urinating behind his strip mall after Super Bowl Sunday celebrations has been convicted of murder.
Lloyd Preston Brewer III, 60, was found guilty on Wednesday in the 2023 shooting death of Garrett Hughes, and now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The shooting occurred just after midnight on February 13, behind Conch Town Liquor & Lounge at 3340 North Roosevelt Blvd., in Key West.
Prosecutors said Hughes had been drinking and watching the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl at the bar that night, along with Brewer. After leaving the bar, Hughes urinated on the rear wall of the building.
Brewer, who owns the building but not the bar, confronted Hughes and then shot him once in the torso, killing him. He later claimed that he had acted in self-defense, telling police he feared for his life when he saw a group of people gathering in the parking lot and noticed Hughes urinating on the wall.
“He came at me in a threatening manner and appeared he was reaching for something on his side,” Brewer told police, according to The Miami Herald. Brewer said he warned Hughes before drawing his weapon.
But prosecutors said security footage and eyewitness testimony directly contradicted that account.
“There is no justifiable claim to self-defense because the kid was never armed and never advanced on the shooter, the shooter advanced on him,” Assistant Monroe County State Attorney Joseph Mansfield said.
Mansfield said surveillance video showed Brewer initially walking toward Hughes, turning away, then returning with his hand on a handgun tucked into his waistband.
“As he got close to Hughes, Brewer drew the weapon in a two-hand stance and fired twice, striking Hughes once,” Mansfield said.
Hughes was rushed to Lower Keys Medical Center where he died.
The killing of Hughes, who is the son of John Hughes, the coach of the Conchs high school football team in Key West, stunned the beach community.
“This was not an act of self-defense,” Mansfield added in a statement. “Lloyd Brewer had the opportunity to disengage but chose instead to return to the confrontation armed and use deadly force. The jury saw the evidence, rejected Brewer’s account, and held him accountable for a premeditated killing.”
“This case showed a conscious and deliberate decision to escalate a confrontation into deadly violence,” Major Crimes Assistant State Prosecutor Colleen Dunne said Wednesday.
“We are deeply grateful to the witnesses who came forward and testified, knowing the difficulty and responsibility that come with telling the truth in a murder trial. Their courage, combined with clear video evidence and thorough investigative work, ensured that justice was done for Garrett Hughes.”
Brewer remains behind bars and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 26.
