A man who drove to what was supposed to be a small marijuana transaction but instead shot the seller in the back, paralyzing him, was found guilty of the charges against him Wednesday evening, according to State Attorney Larry Basford.
Dexter Owens, 19, was found guilty late Wednesday of Robbery with a Firearm and Aggravated Battery with a Firearm. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark set sentencing for July 23. Under Florida’s 10-20-Life Statute, the defendant faces up to Life in prison.
“The plan was to go and rob the victim of his marijuana and that changed when Dexter Owens saw the victim’s gun and decided he wanted it and made the decision to shoot the victim,” Prosecutor Frank Sullivan said. “And that gun was found hidden in a hole in Owens’ closet.”
There were multiple witnesses who testified about various parts of the evening of Oct. 12, 2024. It started with a ride to the victim’s girlfriend’s house to buy a small amount of marijuana and ended with Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputies surrounding the defendant’s home as they awaited a search warrant. Nearly a half dozen people emerged from the residence when the warrant was obtained.
Owens drove a car with two passengers to the victim’s girlfriend’s house to buy $30-$60 worth of marijuana, according to several witnesses. The victim, who is paralyzed from the shooting and arrived in court in a wheelchair, testified he got into the backseat and handed a few grams of marijuana to the front-seat passenger.
He said he was waiting for payment and looking at his phone, “and all I hear is Dexter say, ‘Hey, what’s that?’ When I looked up, I didn’t move, and I have a gun pointed at my chest (by Owens).
“I let him take my phone and everything, I was scared to move,” the victim continued. “We’re sitting there a minute or two or so and nothing’s being said … so I try to run.”
The victim, who said he had a gun tucked into his waistband, said he was trying to get out the back door, “and then I feel him physically hit me in the back with the gun and shoot me.”
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The car’s passenger said he knew the victim was carrying a gun but did not threaten anyone with it and did not deserve to be shot by his friend Owens, who was driving.
The victim’s phone was left in the car and his girlfriend was able to use an app to tell deputies exactly where the defendants’ car had parked in Panama City. Deputies went to that address and knocked, but no one would answer the door.
They surrounded the house and when a search warrant was signed about two hours later, they ordered everyone out.
Multiple statements to investigators generated evidence pointing to Owens as being the shooter and instigator. Owens’ version of events that night changed multiple times, ranging from he never touched a gun or shot anyone, to he did shoot the victim but it was in self-defense.
In all statements to deputies the reason for the trip in the first place was to buy marijuana. But on the stand Wednesday, Owens claimed he was driving someone there to buy a gun, something he never said in his previous interviews with investigators.
“He lied again, and again, and again, and again during that interview,” Sullivan said. “When somebody is proven to be a liar, you have to think critically, and you have to analyze everything they say. He has proven he will lie to get out of trouble and to avoid getting into trouble and to protect himself, and then he gets into court and tells you something he’s never told anyone before.”
Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and it’s Criminal Investigation Division for their work on the case involving multiple suspects and scenes.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.