Killing of Markeis McGlockton

Michael Andrew Drejka (born August 5, 1970) originally lived in Delaware.

His father was a Delaware State Trooper.

He had a concealed carry license.

Drejka worked for Asplundh Tree Expert Company as a tree-trimmer and often performed cleanup work.

Markeis Deon McGlockton (March 28, 1990 – July 19, 2018) grew up in Clearwater, Florida, and formerly lived in St. Petersburg.

Within Pinellas County Schools, McGlockton attended middle school in St. Petersburg; and attended Boca Ciega High School but later dropped out.

He quit the tree-trimming business in 2007 and lived with his girlfriend Cara Lynne Brooks.

In 2009, McGlockton met Britany Jacobs through a friend while she was a student at Dunedin High School.

The couple had three children together during his lifetime.

In 2010, Drejka moved to Pinellas County, where he got married.

He reported himself as retired.

On July 19, 2018, Markeis McGlockton, 28, was fatally shot by Michael Drejka at a parking lot outside a local convenience store in Clearwater, Florida, United States.

Shortly before the shooting, Drejka pulled in a spot not meant for parking and approached McGlockton's car to confront McGlockton's girlfriend for parking in a disabled parking space without a placard.

McGlockton came out of the store to find Drejka screaming at his girlfriend and warned Drejka to back away from his vehicle.

When that attempt was unsuccessful he then shoved Drejka to the ground.

Drejka immediately drew his handgun and McGlockton began to back away.

Five seconds after Drejka hit the ground, he shot McGlockton once.

McGlockton later died from his injuries at a local hospital.

He was unarmed at the time he was shot.

Drejka, a 47-year-old man, was not initially charged for the killing by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, with Sheriff Bob Gualtieri citing Florida's stand-your-ground law as the reason.

The investigation was then handed over to the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida State Attorney Bernie McCabe, who charged Drejka with one count of manslaughter on August 13, 2018.

Drejka pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Jacobs publicly revealed her pregnancy with their fourth child in December 2018.

McGlockton used to work at Burger King.

He later worked nights as a clerk at a 7-Eleven until his death.

While Jacobs worked in the daytime as a certified nursing assistant, McGlockton was a stay-at-home dad for their children.

On the afternoon of July 19, 2018, McGlockton picked up Jacobs from her employer with their three children in the vehicle, reportedly a 2016 Chrysler 200.

Jacobs took over the wheel and drove the family to the Circle A Food Store so McGlockton could buy snacks for the children.

Jacobs illegally parked the vehicle in the store's only handicapped parking space, located on the side of the building.

McGlockton went into the store with their five-year-old son, Markeis Jr.

While Jacobs was sitting inside the vehicle, Drejka pulled up in his Toyota 4-Runner, also parking illegally, after having come from the WaWa on Missouri Ave in Largo.

Drejka got out of his SUV and searched for a disabled parking placard on Jacobs' vehicle.

Video surveillance shows Drejka starting a confrontation with Jacobs over the parking space.

She had the other two children, aged three years and four months, seated in the car at the time.

McGlockton had not yet finished checking out when he was told by another customer what was happening.

Around 3:30 pm, video surveillance shows McGlockton walked out of the store and walked up to Drejka and shoved him to the ground and kept walking towards him.

Three seconds later, Drejka pulled out a .40-caliber Glock, which he steadied with both hands.

His trial began on August 19, 2019.

Drejka was convicted of manslaughter on August 23, 2019, and was sentenced to imprisonment for twenty years on October 10, 2019.

The incident was widely reported by news media as another instance of Florida's stand-your-ground law, and generated significant attention and protests because of the fact that Drejka was white and McGlockton was black with similarities to the killing of Trayvon Martin six years prior which generated international attention and debate.