Man shot over football game bet
BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
STARKE—Circuit Judge James M. Colaw dismissed a second-degree murder charge against Jimmy Lamar Hankerson, 55, during a June 15 hearing.
Hankerson was arrested for the Dec. 8, 2021, Lincoln City shooting of Jermaine Domonic Stewart.
According to court papers, the two men got into an argument over a bet they had on the Florida-Georgia football game. During the argument, the defendant drew a firearm and shot the victim three times.
During the June 15 evidentiary hearing, allowed under Florida’s justifiable use of force statute, widely known as Stand-Your-Ground, Hankerson’s attorney: Robert A. Rush, argued that his client acted in self-defense.
In his order dismissing the charge, Colaw wrote: “Defendant presented a prima facia claim of self-defense immunity from criminal prosecution, thereby shifting the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence to the State. The State failed to overcome the immunity from criminal prosecution provided in (Florida Statutes).”
Hankerson still faces one felony count related to the Dec. 8 incident: possession of a weapon by a felon or delinquent.
