State Attorney Rules Shooting Death Of Walnut Hill Man Was Justified

The State Attorney’s Office has determined that the shooting death of a Walnut Hill man last month was justified and no charges will be filed.

Mark Anthony Singleton, 55, was shot in his neck on Juniper Street, crashed his pickup truck about 10 miles away on Highway 97 and died from the gunshot wound a short time later at a Pensacola hospital.

“It has been determined that it was a justified shooting and no arrests will be made,” Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille told NorthEscambia.com Friday afternoon. It was determined that the Singleton pulled a gun and attempted to shoot another person, but the gun fired during an altercation, striking Singleton in the neck.

Singleton drove away before crashing his truck.

The investigation revealed Singleton was in his red Ford Ranger pickup truck at a block party at the dead end of Juniper Street attempting to solicit sex and drugs despite being asked to leave the area repeatedly by residents. A young adult female told deputies that Singleton offered her $100 for sex or marijuana. She refused, making him angry.

Witnesses said Singleton was known to them because he frequently visited the area, “harassing the young girls for sexual favors and for drugs”, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

After moving his truck a few times, Singleton put his pickup in reverse and sped backwards, almost striking a 26-year old man that had asked him to leave. He told investigators that he avoided injury by pushing off the tailgate and jumping from the street.

The uncle of the man nearly hit by the pickup and his uncle’s son asked Singleton again to leave the area, but Singleton grabbed a gun and pointed it at the man. The son yelled “gun”, and the man then pushed the gun away at which point the gun fired. The man held onto the gun as Singleton drove away.

The man fled the area out of fear that he would be arrested. He contacted deputies and met with them a few hours later at the ECSO’s Century Precinct. When he arrived, he opened his trunk and provided deputies with the .40 caliber weapon from the shooting. The man said that during the struggle for the gun, it fired, but he did not realize Singleton had been shot.

A records check revealed Singleton had purchased the gun in 2011 from a store in Pensacola.

Another witness told investigators that a red Ford Ranger pulled in front of him on Highway 97, and it appeared that it was being operated by an intoxicated driver. He said the truck ran off the road several times and the driver around and headed northbound before crashing near Howell Road about 10:25 p.m.

The vehicle left the roadway, traveled through a fence, across the corner of a field, through another fence, across a driveway and through a third fence into a pasture.

Singleton died in the hospital about two hours later.

Multiple witnesses corroborated the information on the incidents on Juniper Street and Highway 97, according to the report.

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

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