Palm City man sentenced to prison for 2020 St. Lucie River shooting

FORT PIERCE — A judge sentenced a Palm City man to three years in prison for three counts of aggravated assault. His trial could serve as a warning to others to be aware of the circumstances under which it is legal to fire a gun in Florida.

David Myers, 41, was charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder during a two-day trial. Jurors were told that at about 3:15 p.m. on Jan. 1, 2020, while piloting a boat on the North Branch of the St. Lucie River, he fired a handgun in the direction of a boat with three people in it while his boat was about 30 feet away, court records show.

The people aboard a 2012 boat with two 300-horsepower engines – Myers’ then-estranged wife and two friends – met Myers on another boat about a mile north of the Port St. Lucie bridge, they later told officials.

According to arrest reports, Myers’ estranged wife and the two men on her boat said between 10 and 15 shots were fired at them before they returned to a dock, where they said Myers met them and began screaming.

She also told police that they separated in 2016 and were in the process of finalizing their divorce.

The wife filmed Myers after he apparently followed her and two men to the dock.

“The video showed David (Myers) standing on the front of his boat, shirtless, wearing blue jean shorts and white sneakers, screaming,” court documents say.

“He wore a large gold chain with a Florida state pendant around his neck and a black handgun was clearly visible sticking out of the right pocket of his denim shorts.”

When Myers learned police had been called, he drove away in his boat, investigators were told. No injuries or property damage were reported.

He was arrested two days after the incident.

A jury found Myers guilty on May 3 of three counts of aggravated assault, a lesser offense than attempted first-degree murder. He was also acquitted of a charge of “shooting or throwing a deadly weapon.”

What did Myers say happened?

Myers told police that there was a verbal argument on the boat. Everyone was yelling because it was hard to hear anything over the noise of the engine. Myers told police that he had been drinking mimosas beforehand.

He told police he had a concealed carry permit and always carried a pistol in his waistband. He denied removing the weapon, a Glock, from its holster.

Myers’ girlfriend told police that Myers was “angry because (his wife) took out ‘his’ boat when she wasn’t allowed to. (His girlfriend) tried to explain to David that the boat was still considered marital property, but he didn’t seem to care,” records say.

Myers’ attorney, Robert Watson, said Tuesday that testimony at the trial showed that the boat his estranged wife was on that day was registered in his client’s name and was to be sold under a divorce order.

“In order to use the boat, the woman … had a guy break a padlock, put in a new ignition switch because she didn’t have a key to the boat, and take the boat out for what she and her buddy called a ‘joy ride,'” Watson said. “And David, who was upset about that, the jury found he pointed a gun at the boat or fired a warning shot, and not anywhere near the boat.”

Watson said that since the boat is valued at $60,000, “it is unclear why anyone would want to put bullet holes in it.”

Myers, who did not testify at his trial, never admitted firing his gun or pointing it at his ex-wife and her two friends, Watson said.

“There was evidence that (the jury) obviously believed one of those two things happened,” he said. “But thank God they understood that (the state’s) argument that this was attempted premeditated murder didn’t make sense.”

In addition, Watson said, the incident shows that there is “great confusion” about the false assumption that in Florida “you can fire a warning shot if someone tries to commit a crime against your property.”

“The law says you can only fire a gun if you are trying to prevent a violent crime against yourself or another human being, and not for any other reason,” Watson said. “People think if someone steals my car from my garage, I can fire a warning shot, but that’s not what the law requires.”

Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Libby said the jury concluded in its verdict that Myers “made a threat with a deadly weapon and was capable of carrying out that threat.”

“To find him guilty of aggravated assault, the jury did not have to find that he fired a weapon,” he said.

“We respect the jury’s verdict. We believe the evidence supports the crimes charged,” Libby added. “The only evidence presented was that the defendant repeatedly fired a gun at the victims and pursued them in his boat.”

At Myers’ sentencing on May 15, Libby asked for him to be sentenced to five years in prison, but District Judge Michael Linn imposed a three-year sentence instead.

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Melissa E. Holsman is a legal reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and author and co-host of “Unsafe conditionsa true crime podcast. You can reach her at [email protected]. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, Become a subscriber to get the latest local news from the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared in Treasure Coast Newspapers: Man sentenced to prison for 2020 St. Lucie River shooting