Florida ‘Stand-Your-Ground’ Claim Denied for Two Black Men Charged with Murder
Two Black men in Macclenny, Florida, who shot back at armed teens claiming self-defense under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law were later charged with first-degree murder.
On the evening of June 26, 2025, longtime friends Jamarian Byrd and Travis Roberts Jr. were standing outside 504 Quail Lane in Macclenny, Florida, when two white teenagers approached, one brandishing a single-shot shotgun. After the teen fired, the two men returned fire, striking 19-year-old Devin “D.J.” Powers, who later died, while the 14-year-old companion survived a leg wound.
Sheriff Scotty Rhoden initially called their response lawful self-defense under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” statute. However, on June 17, 2026, Judge Denise Ferrero ruled the defense no longer applied once Powers began retreating, and charged Byrd and Roberts with first-degree murder and related offenses. The defendants remain jailed without bail and have appealed the denial of immunity.
The article contrasts this outcome with a 2018 Baker County case where white shooter Gardner Fraser killed Dominic Jerome “D.J.” Broadus but faced only a tampering conviction, underscoring perceived racial inequities in the application of self-defense laws.
Why it matters
The case spotlights possible racial bias in Florida’s self-defense law and its uneven enforcement.
In this story