A jury has found a 28-year-old man guilty of murder nearly three years after the fatal shooting of another man outside a Belle Glade market.
Jurors on Oct. 10 convicted Tony P. Huggins, of Belle Glade, of first-degree murder with a firearm in the Oct. 22, 2022, slaying of 31-year-old Johnathan Jones. They also found Huggins guilty of grand theft auto.
State prosecutors announced that they would drop a third charge against Huggins of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Huggins is awaiting sentencing, with Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe setting the case for a status hearing on Oct. 16. Prosecutors informed the court they would not seek the death penalty, meaning that Huggins faces a maximum penalty of life in in prison.
He was taken into custody days after the fatal shooting after Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigators alleged that he shot Jones following encounter at Bobby’s Market on Southwest Sixth Street, just north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
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No issues when murder victim, shooter met outside Belle Glade market
Surveillance cameras captured footage of Huggins, then 25, entering and exiting the store in the moments before the shooting. As he entered the store, cameras captured him concealing an item under his arm, which investigators later said was a handgun.
Investigators said Huggins passed Jones, who was walking out of the market, and the two men shared a fist bump before separating. Sheriff’s deputies said there was no sign of any issues between them.
Investigators said Jones was standing with a group of men a short time later near the open trunk of a Chevrolet SUV when Huggins approached while driving a stolen Lexus SUV. Huggins rolled down the front passenger window, opened fire and then sped away from the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
Medics took Jones to Lakeside Medical Center in Belle Glade, which sent him by helicopter to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where he died.
Court records show that, prior to his death, Jones told his girlfriend that “AJ” was the person who shot him.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Fist bump to gunfire: Jurors decide man’s fate in fatal shooting
