A man murdered a retired U.S. Army Corporal in downtown Orlando, shooting the victim multiple times.
An Orange County jury found 29-year-old Shaun Marvin Engram Jr. guilty of Second Degree Murder (with a Firearm) for fatally shooting a man in downtown Orlando in 2021.
During the early morning hours of May 2, 2021, Orlando Police Department officers were working in the downtown Orlando corridor as bars closed and people filled the streets. Just before 2:30am officers stationed at the intersection of East Central Boulevard and North Orange Avenue heard gunshots.
They immediately responded to the sidewalk in front of 20 North Orange Avenue where they found 34-year-old retired U.S. Army Corporal Joseph William Torres with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
Detectives obtained surveillance video from a nearby building that captured the entire altercation and shooting. The video showed the victim and his friend walking back to the victim’s car when Torres approached the defendant and a group of men blocking the sidewalk.
Torres attempted to walk through an opening in the group but Engram put his arm out, stopping the victim from passing through. The victim hit the defendant in the face and attempted to run away when the group started attacking him.
Immediately after being punched in the face, Engram pulled a gun, fatally shooting the victim three times.
OPD officers identified Engram as the shooter in the video and arrested him on May 5, 2021.
During a pretrial hearing, the defendant tried to argue Stand Your Ground but the Court found by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant was the aggressor and did not have a right to stand his ground because the victim was fleeing and there was no reasonable basis to use deadly force.
After the four-day Central Florida trial, the jury found Engram guilty as charged with Second Degree Murder (with a Firearm) with a special finding the defendant did discharge a weapon and caused the victim’s death.
Engram is set to be sentenced on January 31, 2025.
