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Wednesday, April 09, 2025

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Suspect Claimed He Fatally Shot Man ‘Out of Fear’ In McDavid Drug Deal

The suspect in a fatal shooting last week on Main Street in McDavid claimed that he shot the victim out of fear, but the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office says it was murder.

Investigators charged 25-year-old Antonio Marshone DeSoto with murder for the shooting on Main Street, just east of Highway 29. During a hearing Tuesday, February 25, Judge John Simon ordered DeSoto held in the Escambia County Jail without bond. He has pleaded not guilty.

The victim, according to an arrest report we obtained on Tuesday, was identified at Charles Black.

Black was found lying in Main Street directly in front of the McDavid Post Office about 8:40 p.m. on February 18 suffering from two gunshot wounds.  He was just a few feet away from the driver’s door of his Chevrolet SUV that remained in the roadway.

After he was shot, Black was able to call 911 and tell dispatchers that DeSoto was the perpetrator, according to an arrest report. He was no longer able to speak to deputies after they arrived on scene. He was transported by Escambia County EMS to the nearby McDavid Fire Station before being airlifted by Medstar AirCare helicopter to a Pensacola hospital where he later died.

Deputies receive a tip that DeSoto had fled following the shooting to a residence in the 100 block of Highway 164, just west of Highway 29 and Driver Road, about a half mile from the shooting scene. Deputies searched the home and found nothing. ECSO said the homeowner said she had been allowing DeSoto to stay in a room inside the house, but she had not seen him since earlier in the afternoon, according to an arrest report. She told deputies that she had been advised by her daughter that she heard gunshots from down the road, but she did not see DeSoto after that.

For more photos from the scene, click here.

Another resident told deputies that he was driving when he saw DeSoto at the intersection of Highway 164 and Highway 29, and he offered him a ride home. He said DeSoto declined, stating that he would come home later, the report states. He said he arrived back at his residence and saw ECSO vehicles with their emergency activated as they responded to the scene, and then he observed DeSoto running into the woods behind their house.

DeSoto was later taken into custody after he walked out of the woods behind the home on Highway 164 where he was taken into custody without incident.

According to deputies, DeSoto said he met Black to buy a quarter pound of marijuana for $400.

“He (DeSoto) stated that he walked up to the vehicle and met with Black. He stated Black told him to get in the passenger seat,” the arrest report states. “He walked over to the passenger side and got in the vehicle but stated that he really didn’t want to get in the car and this made him nervous. He stated that he asked to see the marijuana and when he reached out to grab it, Black became aggressive with him. He stated that at this point, Black grabbed his shirt. He stated that by Black doing this he felt scared that something was going to happen to him. He then stated that at this point he pulled his gun from his waistband and shot Black twice.”

DeSoto told deputies that he did not plan to rob Black, later adding that one of his “home boys” was going to send him money using Apple Pay, but that he did not have any money on his person at the time he met Black, according to the report. He also told deputies that he threw the firearm in the woods before stating that he threw it under a camper in the front yard of the home on Highway 164. He also provided conflicting details about where he put the marijuana, saying it was the woods then that maybe he put in the house, the report continues.

A 9mm handgun was located under the camper, and two 9mm casing were recovered from Black’s vehicle, investigators said. Deputies found a plastic gallon bag containing marijuana in a trash can a short distance from the fire arm.

In their report, the ECSO summarized the reasons why DeSoto was charged with murder:

“Desoto met up with Black to purchase narcotics, later met with Black with a firearm in his waistband and no money to pay for the narcotics. He then shoots and kills Black and takes the narcotics from Black’s possession and flees the area and later flees from law enforcement. Desoto did not render any aid to Black and passed multiple residences on the way back to his home and did not notify anyone that he had just shot someone and ask for medical assistance. He had a cellphone in his possession and did not attempt to call 911 to get medical help for Black. He disposed of the narcotics that he took from Black and disposed of the firearm that he used to shoot Black. He also arrived to meet with Black wearing a mask on his head. These facts show that Desoto did not shoot Black out of fear.”

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.