In the moments after being shot by police officers, a dying 25-year-old Titusville man yelled, “I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m going down. I (expletive) up my life. It’s over with,” according to a video released by Titusville police June 13 that details the deadly officer-involved shooting.
The publicly released video comes one day after Tri-Marea Charles’ mother, Samantha Charles, was allowed to view footage of the Feb. 7 incident that killed her son. Samantha Charles and her high-profile civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump have been pleading with police and city officials for months to see her son’s final moments. In May, the Titusville city council voted unanimously to request that the police department make the video available to Charles’ mother. The agency refused.
“I still don’t have closure,” Charles said after viewing the footage June 12.
In a taped statement released by Titusville Police Chief John Lau on June 13, he said he waited until now to release the “extremely graphic” footage to protect the integrity of the investigation. He then narrates the 18-minute video, explaining officers’ actions and reactions to the shooting, which happened while police were investigating ongoing complaints at a home on South Robbins Avenue.
On June 10, State Attorney William Scheiner announced that Titusville police officers were justified in the shooting death.
“I am now in the position to share with everybody what actually took place that night, to include the prior criminal activity attached to this residence that initially brought our officers to 490 Robbins Ave.,” Lau said.
The case’s findings were investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and then reviewed by the Brevard County state attorney’s office.
The state attorney’s decision means the officers involved will not face any criminal charges in the case. Investigators said Charles was shot 10 times, including several as he ran — armed with a gun modified to fire off a rapid number of rounds — from one officer toward another following what investigators said was a “violent confrontation.”
“As previously stated, my role in this investigation is to determine if a violation of the law has occurred and if that violation can be proven beyond and to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt in court,” Scheiner wrote in a June 10 letter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“Based on the information provided to me I have determined that the use of force by Officer Xzevies Baez and Corporal Zachary Blougouras was lawful and justified.”
What did footage of the shooting released by Titusville Police show?
The footage shows officers approaching a home on South Robbins Avenue the evening of Feb. 7, 2025.
Four other people are outside of the home or exiting it as officers announce themselves and ask for the homeowner to come outside.
Tri-Marea Charles was inside the home and can be seen tripping and falling as he ran outside. That’s when a handgun fell out of Charles’ waistband onto the walkway.
The video pauses at this point and a red box is placed around a black object on Charles’ waistband. It’s hard to make out what the object is, but text on the video reads “magazine extension attached to handgun protruding from waistband.”
The video is slowed and Lau details what happened next.
“Officer one immediately yells ‘He has a gun. He has a gun,” Lau said. “Charles continued his efforts to flee by swinging a closed fist at officer one and then pushing officer one in the chest.”
Charles then, Lau said, turned back and retrieved the dropped weapon, “making him an armed threat.”
The slowed-down, unsteady body cam video shows Charles running from the home. As he ran, Lau said, Charles turned toward the first officer and transferred the gun to his right hand from his left.
This is when both officers “one” and “two” discharged their weapons, Lau said. The sound of repeated gunfire is heard on the video.
“Officers continued to fire at Charles until he fell to the ground,” Lau said. “While lying on the ground, Charles gave the dying declaration … Officers immediately transitioned into life-saving measures, but Charles ultimately died from his wounds.”
What the investigation into the deadly shooting found
Investigating agents found the firearm Charles had on scene had a depressed trigger, meaning it had been pulled, according to Lau. He also said the handgun was illegally modified to simulate a machine gun and was capable of holding 30 rounds of ammunition.
The shooting happened at a home that for months had been the subject of an ongoing slew of issues reported to police.
“For over a month prior to this officer-involved shooting, this specific address was the location of repeated calls for service, with nine of them involving gun violence, to include shots fired,” Lau said.
Among the evidence shared by Lau in the video release was audio of numerous 911 calls in the days before the fatal shooting, from residents concerned for their safety after hearing gunshots.
“I don’t want to die today,” said one woman, who told the 911 operator she was not going near windows for fear of being shot.
“There are kids around here. We can’t be killing kids,” another caller said.
Spitzer is a Trending Reporter. She can be reached at MSpitzer@Floridatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Titusville police release video of deadly officer-involved shooting