Escambia Man Convicted Of Manslaughter For Shooting Cantonment Man In Lounge Parking Lot

February 9, 2025

A man has been convicted of shooting a Cantonment man in the summer of 2023 at a Pensacola lounge.

Michael Andrew Rodriguez, now 40, was originally charged with second degree murder but was convicted by an Escambia County jury of a lesser offense of manslaughter.

Rodriguez is being held without bond as he awaits sentencing on February 20.

He shot victim Damon Caldwell in the neck at Sam’s Lounge on Old Corry Field Road on July 21, 2023. Video surveillance showed a confrontation between  Rodriguez and Caldwell outside the lounge before Rodriguez draws a firm and shoots Caldwell, who falls to the ground. Rodriguez then backs away, firing multiple additional shots toward the crowd near Caldwell. Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies noted in their report that Caldwell never presented a firearm or any other weapon and did not utilize any other form of deadly force against Rodriguez.

Rodriguez later contacted law enforcement and told deputies that he planned to turn himself in, but he failed to do so. The ECSO tracked Rodriguez him and arrested him, as he told them he “knew he messed up”.

An Escambia County woman is awaiting trial and an accessory after the fact for allegedly helping Rodriguez, her boyfriend, after the shooting. According to investigators, Deomi Polyzos drove to the lounge and picked Rodriquez up after the murder before making stops ” presumably to dispose of evidence/the firearm utilized”, an arrest report states

Polyzos remains free on a $75,000 bond with a schedule court appearance in late February.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News