The case surrounding the fatal shooting of Jacksonville Sheriff's Office corrections officer Brad McNew received a significant update as a grand jury decided to formally upgrade the charges against the accused from second-degree to first-degree murder. Demaurea Grant, the 30-year-old man implicated in the officer's death, now faces the more severe charge for the incident at a local truck stop in October of last year.
Additional charges leveled against Grant include discharging a firearm from a vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and aggravated assault. Makayla Huggins, 25, has also been indicted as an accessory after the fact. This case has swiftly to progress through the legal system, with Grant awaiting extradition back to Florida from Gaston County, North Carolina, as he is currently held without bond, as per a report by First Coast News.
McNew, the corrections officer who had served JSO for 24 years, was reportedly off duty and in plain clothes when he became a victim of the fatal shooting. According to the investigation, the officer was caught in a violent dispute at Love's Travel Stop on Jacksonville's Northside, an encounter which resulted in his death. Surveillance footage, mentioned by News4Jax, captured the tragic unraveling, showing a dispute and subsequent intervention by McNew that led to the shooting.
Sheriff T.K. Waters, in a statement obtained by First Coast News, memorialized McNew as "the epitome of a public servant," further lamenting the incident as "senseless violence" and "disturbing." Grant's arraignment details have not been disclosed yet; however, Huggins pleaded not guilty to her charge of accessory after the fact and is slated to return to court on February 25, as per her recent court appearance. The grand jury's decision was also covered by WOKV's report on the case.
