Less than nine months after Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in central Florida, another black teenage student was killed under suspicious circumstances.
Michael David Dunn, a 45-year-old vice president of Dunn & Dunn Data Systems in Vero Beach, was in Jacksonville this past weekend for his son’s wedding. The Orlando Sentinel details what happened on Friday when Dunn, a gun collector, encountered Jordan Russell Davis, a student at nearby magnet school Samuel W. Wolfson High:
Jordan Russell Davis, 17, and several other teenagers were sitting in a sport utility vehicle in the parking lot when Dunn pulled up next to them in a car and asked them to turn down their music, [Jacksonville sheriff's Lt. Rob] Schoonover said.
Jordan and Dunn exchanged words, and Dunn pulled a gun and shot eight or nine times, striking Jordan twice, Schoonover said. Jordan was sitting in the back seat. No one else was hurt.Dunn’s attorney Monday said her client acted responsibly and in self-defense. She did not elaborate.
Schoonover also said that “there were words exchanged” between the two, and Dunn claims to have felt “threatened” before opening fire.
According to his father Ron Davis, the teenager died in the arms of his friend in the car. Ron said his son was unarmed.
Dunn was arrested at his home on Saturday and charged with murder and attempted murder. He is being held without bail.
Davis’s funeral will take place on Saturday, Dec. 1 and his parents plan to create a foundation “for at risk students that suffer from tragedies, in his memory.”
Since Dunn is claiming self-defense, Florida’s
“Stand Your Ground” law, which earned infamy after Trayvon Martin’s killing, could be at issue in this case. After Martin’s death, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) appointed a task force to review the law that authorizes the unfettered use of deadly force in self-defense, but the panel didn’t recommend any significant changes.
