MIAMI – A man accused of fatally shooting another man at a South Miami market last week is claiming self-defense.
Terrance Carter, 22, appeared in bond court Tuesday morning, one day after he was arrested on charges of second-degree murder and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Police said Carter fatally shot Markeith Nickles, 22, last Friday at the South Miami Market during an argument about Carter's girlfriend.
An attorney for Carter told Miami-Dade County Judge Mindy Glazer that her client was acting in self-defense.
"It's clear that it was a self-defense issue," the defense attorney said. "There was some kind of fight in the store, which caused him to have to defend himself."
According to a police report, Carter took out a gun and shot Nickles outside the store. Carter then followed Nickles inside the store, pistol-whipped him and shot him in the chest, the report said.
"So it's the state's position that this is not a self-defense situation," an assistant state attorney argued.
Glazer agreed and ordered that Carter, who turned himself in to police at his attorney's office, be held without bond.