A Panama City man convicted of opening fire on a vehicle with four occupants, striking one, was sentenced to a total of 85 years in prison Friday.
Martae Lemon Coleman, 29, was found guilty July 29 of four Counts of Attempted Second-Degree Murder – with one count involving serious bodily. Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register sentenced the defendant to 25 years on the first charge, and 20 years each of the other three. He also was found guilty of Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle.
State Attorney Larry Basford said that under Florida’s 10-20-Life law, those are minimum-mandatory sentences and they must be served consecutively and day-for-day over 85 years.
Prosecutors Jeff Moore and Morgan Morrell called 9 witnesses, including the victims, to prove that there was a verbal disturbance involving the defendant and a friend with the shooting victim and his friends in the parking lot of the Gold Nugget on U.S. 98 on Sept. 29, 2024. But it had ended and the victims had no idea the defendant was following their vehicle until he pulled beside them and opened fire at a Panama City Beach intersection 5 miles away.
The driver was struck in the hip before the defendant fled. He was found and arrested the next day.
The victim’s father said he was sound asleep that morning when his phone rang around 4 a.m.
“Imagine getting a phone call like that at 4 in the morning,” he said. “That’s my baby son. That was devastating. It’s going to affect him for the rest of his life. And it could’ve been worse and we might not have a son today.”
The victim’s mother said they made the drive here not knowing the exact details, which was it’s own kind of horror.
“No one knew,” she said. “All we knew was there was blood and he’d been shot.”
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She also referenced the defense’s request that the court note the defendant’s military service. The victim’s mother said she is from a military family as well.
“We are held to a higher standard in everything we do,” she said. “You must think about your actions before you make dumb decisions. He chased my son for 5 miles and in 5 miles he didn’t think about what he was doing was wrong. We could’ve lost our son.”
Basford thanked the collaborative work that night between the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, Panama City Police Department and Panama City Beach Police Department in identifying the defendant through traffic cameras and getting him into custody.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.