'Stand your ground' hearing: Was fatal shooting justified? How a South Florida judge ruled

WEST PALM BEACH — Two men accused of murder in the fatal 2020 shooting of a man near Boynton Beach have been cleared of criminal charges after a judge ruled they are immune from prosecution under Florida's "stand your ground" law.

Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer dismissed charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder against Bonnelly Fernandez and Mark Afanador after a hearing on Wednesday, May 22, at the Palm Beach County Courthouse.

Both men had been accused in the Feb. 3, 2020, shooting of Junior Salomon, who died weeks later at his home in Boynton Beach. In separate motions, defense attorneys argued the two men acted in self-defense during an exchange of gunfire with Salomon, 31, and another person outside Fernandez's home off Miner Road.

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Judges often reject 'stand your ground' defenses in Palm Beach County

Florida's "stand your ground" law authorizes people to meet force with deadly force in their homes with no duty to retreat. However, attempts to invoke the statute to challenge a murder charge in Palm Beach County have largely been unsuccessful in recent years.

A Palm Beach Post review of cases from 2019 to 2022 showed that of 10 people who invoked the statute, only one succeeded.

In one high-profile instance, a judge denied the bid of Travis Rudolph, the former Cardinal Newman High School and Florida State University football standout, to invoke the statute in the April 2021 fatal shooting of Sebastien Jean-Jacques. A jury last year acquitted Rudolph of murder charges.

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Dispute over money led to gunfire outside home, attorneys say in court

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators alleged Fernandez and Afanador were the aggressors in the shooting of Salomon. Court records indicate he and two other men arrived by car that night at Fernandez's residence on Highland Road near Rolling Green Elementary School.

In separate motions to dismiss the charges, defense attorneys argued that Salomon approached the front fence and demanded that Fernandez pay him $500. Fernandez said he did not have the money and then walked back toward the home.

In that moment, Salomon and one of his accomplices began shooting, prompting Fernandez and Afanador to return fire, defense attorneys argued. Courtney Wilson, Afanador's attorney, argued that the "stand your ground statute" applied in his case because Afanador had a right to be at the home as an invited guest of Fernandez.

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'Stand your ground' lawyers also question ways PBSO handled evidence

During the exchange of gunfire, Salomon was shot four times, according to court records. He was taken to Delray Medical Center in critical condition. While there, Salomon told investigators he had gone to Fernandez's home to collect money that was owed to him and indicated that Fernandez shot at him following an argument over the debt.

Salomon was released four days after being admitted but died weeks later. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office determined that he died of complications from his injuries and ruled the death was a homicide.

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Attorneys for Fernandez and Afanador noted a video that purportedly showed Fernandez reacting to gunfire that came from the direction of the vehicle in which Salomon arrived.

They also questioned the safeguarding of evidence, stating that two cellphones recovered from the vehicle were not placed into evidence, and that two cellphones recovered from Salomon's home after his death were destroyed by law enforcement.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 'Stand your ground' defense raised in murder case. Did 2 men go free?