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© St. Petersburg Times, published March 25, 2003
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Pasco County sheriff's detectives arrested Michael Carroll Wilson last month on a charge of second-degree murder, saying he wasn't justified in shooting a man on a darkened Moon Lake road during an argument.
On Monday, state prosecutors announced they will not pursue the murder charge against Wilson, 29.
Wilson, they said, was aiding an endangered woman when he shot 48-year-old Dwight Webb with a 9mm handgun.
"There was a very good case that he was acting in defense of others," said Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis.
Wilson, who could not be reached for comment Monday, still faces charges of felonious possession of a firearm and sale of cocaine. He previously served time in prison for armed burglary, grand theft and hit-and-run.
Webb's brother reacted angrily Monday when told by a St. Petersburg Times reporter that Wilson will not face murder charges.
"You've got to be kidding me," said Dale Webb, who lives in Daytona Beach. "This guy is going to walk? My brother was shot in cold blood."
Halkitis, the prosecutor, said Webb was the aggressor, not Wilson.
Webb, who had recently moved to Baltimore, returned to Pasco days before he was killed. Family members said he hoped to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend, Alicia Kersey.
On Feb. 11, Webb was driving a borrowed minivan when he spotted Kersey's car in Moon Lake. He followed her and then rammed her car several times, the Sheriff's Office said.
Kersey called Wilson on her cell phone, prosecutors said. Wilson grabbed a gun and showed up minutes later at the intersection of Lantana Avenue and Myaka Street.
Prosecutors think Wilson saw Webb choking Kersey and fired, Halkitis said. That belief is based on the statements of Wilson and Kersey, he said.
A bullet struck Webb in the chest, killing him. Wilson told investigators that he fired from 75 feet away as a warning and didn't mean to shoot Webb. Prosecutors believe otherwise, Halkitis said, but legally it makes little difference.
Kersey feared for her life, Halkitis said, and would have been justified in using deadly force. The same goes for a bystander who believed Kersey's life was in danger, Halkitis said.
Dale Webb said his brother never would have choked Kersey. Kersey initially told detectives that Webb only grabbed her arm and did not hurt her, according to reports. She has since changed her story, prosecutors said.
"I don't understand why detectives don't investigate this thing more," Dale Webb said. "(Wilson) wasn't defending anybody. If he was, he could have shot Dwight in the foot. ... I just can't see how a felon can possess a firearm in Florida, then kill an unarmed man and walk away."