Christo Sto Maccius was 25 and working as a substitute teacher in Boca Raton when he was shot and killed outside O’Connor’s Pub in Sandalfoot Plaza around 4:30 a.m. on July 30, 2016. He and two friends were leaving the bar when someone fired into the parking lot; Maccius was struck six times and died at the scene despite efforts by friends and bystanders to save him.

Investigators identified Broward County resident Garry Pierre as the shooter. Prosecutors said Pierre had been upset over an earlier altercation in which Maccius had intervened. Surveillance video reportedly captured a muzzle flash and a man running from the lot, and a Palm Beach County Jail inmate testified that Pierre confessed, saying he had staked out the parking lot before firing. Pierre was arrested, charged with first-degree murder with a firearm, convicted by a jury, and sentenced to life without parole.

Maccius had been a former football standout and was remembered by colleagues and students at West Boca Raton High School for his smile and sense of humor; a memorial was created outside the school and more than 100 people attended.