After urinating on a wall outside a club in Key West, Florida, businessman Lloyd Brewer III was shot and killed by the son of a high school football coach. There is a video circulating on the internet of Brewer shooting 21-year-old Hughes.
Brewer, who claimed self-defense, owns the strip mall where the bar is located on North Roosevelt Boulevard in the New Town area of the tourist hotspot. He would not provide authorities access to the surveillance footage from his premises without a warrant.
At 12:26 a.m., Hughes is observed leaving the bar via the back entrance while wearing only shorts; he then crosses the parking lot and approaches the wall of the Peacock Plaza building. As Carson Hughes, Blake Arencibia, and Logan Pellicier leave the pub and hang out in the parking lot, he seems to relieve himself on the wall. In the video, Brewer can reach for a gun and head across the parking lot toward Hughes.
The billionaire developer reported that Garrett had attacked him over the phone. Brewer said he maintained his ground out of concern for his life as Hughes approached him aggressively. Prosecutors believe the video disproves Brewer’s claim of self-defense and that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
John Hughes, Garrett’s father, is the head football coach at Key West High School, where Garrett excelled as a football and lacrosse player. His parents and five brothers—including his mother, Lesley Touzalin—are devastated by his death. Touzalin shared a photo of a happy, smiling toddler version of Hughes the day after the murder. Hughes’s father and stepmother celebrated Independence Day by posting a photo of him at the beach in American flag shorts on Facebook.
The family and the city of Key West are in mourning after the tragedy. Defense attorney Jerome Ballarotto has requested a gag order against Grossman and the Monroe State Attorney’s Office, who are prosecuting Brewer’s case. The Brewer family trust includes multiple investments in Florida and sixteen homes in Georgia. Brewer has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, and four more counts for allegedly threatening Carson with the same pistol he used to kill his brother.
He is presently being detained in jail without bond.
