A man found guilty of Manslaughter, Attempted Second-Degree Murder, and Grand Theft of a Firearm in the June 2025 shooting death of a man in a Waffle House parking lot is set to be sentenced March 5, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
JaZai Mitchell, 19, of Panama City, was found guilty Friday by a jury that deliberated for about 2 hours after hearing the case presented by Prosecutor Peter Overstreet. Overstreet called 16 witnesses, ranging from Panama City Beach Police Department officers and Florida Department of Law Enforcement analysts to Medical Examiner Jay Radtke and a witness at the scene.
Mitchell was found guilty in the death of 19-year-old JaDion Hughes. The evidence showed Mitchell robbed Hughes’ friend – Hughes was not armed – of a gun behind the Waffle House on June 3, 2025. The gun owner followed Mitchell back to his car and tussled with him trying to get his gun back. Hughes leaned in the car in an attempt to calm things down. Mitchell fired a shot at the gun owner, but the bullet went through his jacket and into Hughes’ chest.
“This case is rather simple because there are two guns involved and only one of them was discharged,” Overstreet said, referring to the gun the defendant had with him and the gun he stole from the teen behind the Waffle House. “It’s simple because the defendant admitted throwing the murder weapon out of the vehicle.
“JaDion Hughes did not shoot himself,” Overstreet continued. “The (owner of the gun) did not shoot at himself. JaZai Mitchell is the only person who had a problem with the victims that night.”
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The defendant and a co-defendant fled the scene and were captured minutes later.
He gave a statement to Panama City Beach police, at first denying any knowledge or involvement in the shooting. He also denied knowing any of the people there but changed his story multiple times and eventually admitted throwing the murder weapon out of the window as they fled.
“It was painful to watch him lie over and over and over again,” Overstreet said of Mitchell’s taped statement.
Basford thanked the Panama City Beach Police Department for its rapid identification and detention of the suspect and its thorough investigation of a complicated crime scene.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.