MELBOURNE, Fla. — The man accused of shooting a Melbourne teenager to death over the weekend will stay in jail without bail.
Stephan Dieujuste, 24, had his first court appearance in Brevard Co. Monday afternoon.
Melbourne police say Dieujuste and 19-year-old Nathaniel Jennings got into an altercation early Sunday. It happened downtown near Vernon Place and New Haven Avenue.
Dieujuste said he recognized a man walking with Jennings. He told police he walked over to the man and “dabbed him up.” He said he then realized he didn’t remember the man’s name or where he knew him from.
According to police, the man was with another person, later identified as Jennings.
Dieujuste told police Jennings was “confrontational” and he threatened to give “his people” Dieujuste’s location.
According to the police report, Dieujuste told officers he started walking backward to his parked car, away from Jennings. He said Jennings was trying to get him to go into a back alley.
He said he continued to walk away. He then told police Jennings started shouting at him, saying, “you going to die right now. You going to die today.”
He said another man grabbed him and pinned him down. Dieujuste said Jennings made reference to having a gun, then he told police, “I think he was lying. I don’t think he had a gun on him.”
He said Jennings got into a fighting stance and made a quick move. That’s when he pulled out his gun and fired at him.
Officers working in the area rushed over to the scene. Emergency medical technicians rushed Jennings to the hospital, where he died.
Investigators found five shell casing on the ground in the parking lot near the scene.
Locals and business owners said the whole incident is disappointing and sad, but they’re not too concerned about safety in the area.
“Generally I think it’s a pretty safe area. They do a good job trying to keep it that way,” said Nathan Rowlan, who moved to Melbourne with his wife a few years ago for safety.
“You can’t control everybody,” he said.
Detectives were able to get video from cameras nearby. They said the video shows what happened.
A local business owner said they also have video that they believe will help with the investigation.
“We caught one gentleman holding something in his right hand and saying they got what they wanted,” said Tom Walker, the owner of Creative Accents by Sue.
He and his wife have reached out to police to turn that video over to them.
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