MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – The suspected culprit behind the deadly shooting outside North Marion Middle School appeared in Marion County court for the first time on Friday.
As 34-year-old Roderick Watson approached the podium in the jail’s courtroom, the judge informed him he’s charged with Murder in the Second Degree with a Firearm.
Via video conference, the judge asked Watson if he wanted him to appoint a public defender to his case.
“Yeah, that’s cool,” Watson replied.
Watson informed the court that he earns about $700 a week and has eight children to support.
What happened
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) initially responded to the parking lot of North Marion Middle School on Wednesday evening in reference to a shooting.
According to witnesses, Watson produced a handgun and shot the victim, 32-year-old Joseph James Juarez Coles, multiple times. Witnesses also say Watson then began punching Coles as he lay lifeless on the ground.
MCSO says they arrived on the scene to Coles suffering from gunshot wounds just west of the school’s cafeteria. The school was having an end of the year awards ceremony, with dozens of parents and children present.
Deputies then saw Watson sitting on a bench just near the victim’s location. Deputies approached Watson who surrendered to deputies, placing his hands behind his back as he was being detained. Watson informed deputies that he placed the firearm in his vehicle.
Paramedics transported Coles to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The arrest report states that the mother of the victim’s three children and fiancée of the defendant, whose name was redacted in the affidavit, told deputies that they were all there for awards ceremony. She said Coles wanted to take the children with him after the ceremony. But she refused because the kids still had a couple of days left in school. The report states Coles then grabbed her by her arm that’s when Watson exited the vehicle and shot Coles.
Watson is being held in the Marion County jail without bond.