Nearly 2 1/2 years after Marion County Sheriff's detectives accused Roderick Kelvin Watson Jr. of firing multiple gunshots and repeatedly beating Joseph James Juarez Coles in the North Marion Middle School parking lot – while parents and students were inside attending an award ceremony – Watson is now standing trial.
The jury was selectedon Oct. 5. Opening statements were delivered Oct. 6, with Assistant State Attorney Toby Hunt asking jurors to find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder with a firearm.
Hunt told the court that what should've been a joyous, happy, exciting day turned tragic, with the a cold, calculated, senseless killing of a man in front of his children, multiple witnesses, and school staff members. This was in May 2024
outside North Marion Middle, 2085 West County Road 329 in Citra.
The prosecutor said there was a tense discussion between Coles and the children's mother on whether or not the children could stay with their father.
Watson, who was sitting in a nearby vehicle, got a handgun from the vehicle and approached the victim. Prosecutor Hunt said Coles was shot four times: once in the upper body, once in the side and twice in the back. The prosecutor said the shots to the back were fired at close range after the victim fell.
The prosecutor said Watson also kicked and punched Coles' lifeless body continually in front of witnesses. At one point, Watson got up and stood over the victim.
Watson was arrested by a sheriff's deputy who had been called to the scene. Life saving measures were performed on Coles, who was taken to the hospital and later died.
Defense opening statement
Assistant Public Defenders Julia Williamson and Sean Gravel are defending Watson.
In the defense opening statement, Gravel told the court the shooting was in self-defense.
The defense contends that Coles had jumped Watson and pointed a gun at Watson. There was talk about Coles being aggressive with the children's mother.
The defense noted that when Watson saw Coles with his children's mother, Watson thought the situation was not good and got the gun. The defense argues that in shooting Coles, Watson was eliminating the threat to the woman and everyone else there at the time.
The defense told jurors they will hear how the mind perceives threats. Defense attorney Gravel told the court to consider the history between the men, the reasonable fear Watson had that day, and Watson's desire to defend himself and others, as he thought Coles was reaching for a gun.
Circuit Judge Barbara Kissner Kwatkosky, who is presiding over the trial, has previously denied a stand your ground motion introduced by the defense a year ago.
Morning testimony
A North Marion High School student was one of several people testifying for the prosecution the morning of Oct. 6.
The girl, a senior, told the court both Coles and the children's mother appeared calm before the shooting. The student said it felt like the children wanted to go with their father (Coles), but their mother disagreed.
As for the shooting, the student said it didn't seem Coles had a firearm. Frozen during the shooting, the student managed to call 911 after the incident.
Cross-examined by the defense, the student said she didn't remember the exact words uttered by Coles or the children's mother.
Both Gravel and Williamson took turns questioning the state's witnesses.
Other witnesses talked about seeing Watson shooting and beating Coles. One witness said Coles was face down when he was hit in the back of the head repeatedly.
Another witness, a woman, said she told Watson not to get involved. But she said Watson got out of the car and shot Coles without warning or provocation.
Before the shooting, the woman said, Coles and the children's mother had a disagreement on who would take the children. She said she and one of Coles' children tried to get Watson off the victim. She said Watson, 36, celebrated after the shooting and beating.
Afternoon testimony
After the lunch break, several people, mostly law enforcement officials, took the stand.
In addition to witnesses, the prosecution introduced physical evidence including pictures of the crime scene and photographs of the victim at the hospital and of the firearm used in the shooting.
Items collected from the scene, such as clothing, were screened, analyzed, processed and then sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for extensive testing. Likewise, swabs from the defendant's mouth were taken for testing.
A doctor from the Medical Examiner's Office explained the victim's autopsy report. Coles was the 1,237th case for the MEO, the doctor said. Although the doctor was unable to determine the gunshot sequence, there were four gunshot pathways.
Though the victim had alcohol and marijuana in his system, the multiple gunshot wounds were the cause of death, which was ruled a homicide, the doctor said.
Pressed by the defense about the alcohol in the victim's body, the doctor had no opinion, other than it was an amount that did not reach the legal point at which a person is considered impaired.
Testimony is scheduled to resume Oct. 7.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Witnesses recall fatal shooting outside North Marion Middle School
