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Man Gets 30 Years For Fatal Shoot Of Cantonment Man In Lounge Parking Lot
March 6, 2025
Wednesday, an Escambia man was sentenced to the maximum for the fatal shooting a Cantonment man in the summer of 2023 at a Pensacola lounge.
Circuit Judge John Simon sentenced 40-year-old Michael Andrew Rodriguez to 30 years in state prison.
He was originally charged with second degree murder but was convicted by an Escambia County jury of a lesser offense of manslaughter. The maximum penalty for the original second-degree murder charge would have been life in prison.
Rodriguez shot victim Damon Caldwell in the neck outside Sam’s Lounge on Old Corry Field Road on July 21, 2023.
Rodriguez shot Caldwell in the neck after Caldwell grabbed him by the shirt collar. Rodriguez testified at trial and claimed Caldwell was reaching for a gun with his other hand; however, the surveillance video shows Caldwell holding a beer bottle in that hand. Caldwell dropped the bottle when he fell to the ground after being shot.
Following the shooting, Rodriguez shot in the direction of other bystanders and then fled the scene. He was later located and apprehended by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at his girlfriend’s house.
Rodriguez’s wife is awaiting trial and an accessory after the fact for allegedly helping Rodriguez after the shooting. According to investigators, Deomi Polyzos drove to the lounge and picked Rodriquez up after the murder before making stop “presumably to dispose of evidence/the firearm utilized”, an arrest report states. She is due back in court on Thursday for a docket appearance.
Comments
4 Responses to “Man Gets 30 Years For Fatal Shoot Of Cantonment Man In Lounge Parking Lot”
You in for a big surprise some of them boys where you going are gonna make you wish you were never born. Watch and see they could care less about your life so get ready!!!!
After his so called self defense he certainly acted guilty .
Florida had an additional time added to sentences for use of a firearm… Thinking 8-15 years
When rodriguez was sentenced the Judge told him he was the aggressor -twice, when he first approached Damon Caldwell to start something and then to shoot Damon and the Lawyer said it was basically an assassination!