Jay man arrested on murder charges

A Jay man is currently lodged in the Santa Rosa County Jail after a shooting incident at a party he was hosting on his property.

Robert Franklin Floyd, 21 of Country Mill Road, was arrested Saturday afternnon on one open count of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

The deceased has been identifed as Getyron Lopez Benjamin, 18, of Brewton, Ala., after friends transported him from the party to a hospital in Brewton.

Floyd was hosting a party as his home on Country Mill Road with several people there when a vechile with four subjects from Bretwon arrived.

In Santa Rosa Sheriff's PIO Sgt. Scott Haines' press release it noted two black male occupants were in the vehicle.

Haines stated, the subjects exited the vehicle and a verbal altercation occurred between Floyd and one of the subjects.  Floyd stated that the subjects were there uninvited.

Floyd requested that the subjects leave the premises, and words were exchanged between Floyd and the subjects from Brewton. The subjects refused to leave, at which time Floyd allegedly pushed one of the black males and told them once again to leave.

Floyd alleges that at that time, the black male which he pushed pulled out a handgun.  Floyd then ran to his truck which was parked nearby. 

Floyd then retrieved a rifle from his truck and stated that he heard gunshots being fired from the area in which the black male subject’s vehicle was located.  Floyd also alleges that he saw a muzzle flash coming from their direction. 

Floyd then fired multiple shots from his rifle towards the direction of the vehicle as it was leaving. 

The vehicle left the scene and Floyd returned the rifle to his truck.  After a short time, Floyd decided to contact the Sheriff’s Office to make them aware of the situation. 

Acording to Haines, when deputies arrived, they spoke with Floyd and gained the above mentioned information.  Numerous rifle shell casings were located at the scene. 

A short time later, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by Brewton Police Department in Alabama stating that the vehicle that had left Country Mill Road in Jay had arrived at the hospital in Brewton and BEnjamin was pronounced deceased at the hospital from a gunshot wound from the previous incident. 

The other occupants of the vehicle were interviewed and stated that they did not observe any of their vehicle’s occupants produce a firearm. 

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office or the Brewton Police Department have not been able to locate a handgun at this time. It is also not known if Benjamin was the subject that Floyd had alleged brandished the handgun. 

Floyd was interviewed by investigators throughout the morning and was taken into custody and is currently being held at the Santa Rosa County Jail with no bond. 

According to Haines the investigation is ongoing at this time.