Fadson Excellent, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot and killed in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2019, outside the Rose Gentleman’s Club at 4458 Purdy Lane in West Palm Beach, Florida. Surveillance footage from the club captured the parking-lot confrontation that escalated into the fatal shooting.

The footage and subsequent investigation identified 36-year-old Antoine Donta Newton as the shooter. Newton was arrested at Delray Medical Center after going there to check on one of the men hurt in the incident. Newton was charged with first-degree murder in Excellent’s death and attempted first-degree murder for shooting another man, Ernest Taylor. A jury could not reach a verdict on the first-degree murder count, producing a mistrial, and Newton was convicted instead on the lesser aggravated battery charge related to Taylor’s shooting.

Newton’s defense said he acted in self-defense and asked the court to apply Florida’s stand your ground law, alleging the altercation began when Excellent and Taylor assaulted Newton’s friend Bataskia Marzette. The first-degree murder charge remains unresolved and further legal action is possible.

Did anyone witness events outside the club that night or have information about the confrontation?