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Michael Andrew Drejka (born 5 August 1970) is an American man convicted of the 2018 murder of Markeis McGlockton in Clearwater, Florida. He shot McGlockton in the chest during an argument over a parking space outside a local Circle A Food store.
Biography
Drejka was born in Delaware in 1970. He moved to Clearwater in 2010 and worked as an Uber driver. According to the owner, both Drejka and McGlockton were regular customers at the Circle A Food where the shooting occurred.
On 19 June 2018, Drejka parked outside the local Circle A Food and saw that McGlockton's girlfriend Britany Jacobs had illegally parked in a handicapped spot with their three children (one of whom was in the store with McGlockton). Drejka began a confrontation with Jacobs over her parking, at which point McGlockton emerged and approached him. The two men argued and McGlockton pushed Drejka to the ground, leaving him with minor bruising. Drejka responded by pulling a gun, and McGlockton began backing away and turned away from him. Drejka fired anyway and hit McGlockton in the chest. McGlockton ran back to the store before collapsing and dying in front of his five-year-old son.
Drejka was arrested by responding officers but was released without charge after six hours under the stand your ground law, a Florida law which allows leniency in cases of self-defence. However, the investigation found that Drejka had a history of drawing his gun to settle petty disputes; of particular note was an incident that occurred that year in the same store, where Drejka confronted a black man named Ricky Kelly for parking in the handicapped space, threatened to shoot him and used a racial slur. This and other cases in which Drejka pointed his gun at people over traffic disputes lead police and prosecutors to suspect that Drejka had intentionally provoked an argument so he could shoot Drejka, and raised the possibility that it could have been a hate crime.
On 13 August, Florida State Attorney Bernie McCabe announced his intent to prosecute Drejka for manslaughter. Drejka pleaded not guilty to the charge, but was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison with credit for time served (92 days). He is imprisoned at the Lancaster Correctional Institution.
On 11 February 2020, Drejka was placed in solitary confinement for his own protection after being attacked by other inmates. The attack left Drejka with ahead injury that required five stitches.
Trivia
- McGlockton's shooting was compared to the 2010 shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, as both were fatal shootings of young black men that occurred in Florida and both Drejka and Zimmerman invoked the stand your ground law; however Drejka was convicted, whereas Zimmerman was acquitted.