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On June 26, 2025, longtime friends Jamarian Byrd and Travis Roberts Jr. were standing outside 504 Quail Lane in Macclenny, Florida. Around 7:45 p.m., two white teens approached them carrying firearms. One of them, 19-year-old Devin “D.J.” Powers, pointed his single-shot shotgun at 22-year-old Byrd and 24-year-old Roberts. A shot rang out and—fearing for their lives—Byrd and Roberts fired back. Twenty-six seconds later, according to a neighbor’s home-surveillance video, Powers lay bleeding on his own porch steps, shot once through the neck. He died three days later. His 14-year-old companion survived a shot to his leg.

Byrd and Roberts did not know their attackers. Earlier that day, however, witnesses testified that Powers had argued with a mutual acquaintance of Byrd and Roberts named Bud. The two tussled over a gun that Powers allegedly pointed at Bud, at which point Bud grabbed the firearm and slapped him. Family members shared that Powers returned home, grabbed another weapon, and was eager to settle the score. Although they tried to persuade him to remain indoors, he and the younger teen left the house two times, armed and ready for a fight.

It was on this second outing that the teens encountered Byrd and Roberts. According to Baker County Sheriff Scotty Rhoden, Byrd and Roberts acted lawfully: “At that point their lives are in fear, that is self-defense.” Eleven days later, though, both men were charged with first-degree murder and additional charges authorities tied to the incident. They have been imprisoned at the Baker County Detention Center and denied bail ever since.

Byrd and Roberts have consistently asserted their innocence under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows the use of force if the person “reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another.” On its face, the law is designed to protect people who defend themselves against a threat. Yet on June 17, 2026, Judge Denise Ferrero denied them immunity.

According to Judge Ferrero, Byrd and Roberts initially had a right........

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