TEQUESTA, Fla. — A Good Samaritan who was trying to help a woman being attacked was shot and killed, and police say the suspect was arrested in the deadly weekend shooting in Tequesta.
According to investigators, 28-year-old Bryan David Bacallao of Hypoluxo shot a man in the chest around 3 a.m. Sunday on Shay Place.
Police identified the victim as 35-year-old Justin Miles Todd, who was pronounced dead at a hospital.
“He’s always been there for me and everybody else and I’ll just miss knowing he’s there and his presence. He didn’t deserve this, this was totally unnecessary,” said April Drolet-Todd, Justin’s mother, who is still trying to comprehend the nightmare.
Todd had been shot once in the chest with a 9mm handgun, investigators said.
Police say Todd and his friend were out at a bar in Jupiter when they started talking with Bacallao and his friends, and offered them a ride home.
Investigators say Bacallao and his girlfriend started arguing in the backseat, and Todd intervened.
Once on Shay Place in Tequesta, police say Bacallao grabbed a gun from his car, which he parked at a friend’s house. As his girlfriend begged him to stop, police say he put his arm around her neck and tried pushing her to the ground.
“That’s when Justin intervened he does not believe in that...men do not put their hands on women,” Drolet-Todd said.
Police say as Todd stepped out of the car he was then shot in the chest.
Investigators say it’s an isolated incident, but neighbors on the quiet block were still surprised.
“I think the mood is it would be nice to know the full story,” said Lew Hayward, who has lived there since 1988.
Todd spent his entire life in Jupiter and was a local chef.
Bacallao is charged with first-degree murder. On Monday, he was denied bond in court.
“I hope he never feels the sun on his face again and I hope justice is served and he pays with his own life, because he took a good life. He should not be able to continue on this Earth,” Drolet-Todd said.
