Escambia County Man Sentenced to Life In Prison For 2024 Christmas Day Shooting

August 3, 2026

An Escambia County man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for a violent 2025 domestic attack on Christmas morning.

Circuit Court Judge John Miller sentenced 47-year-old Terrence James Franklin to life in state prison. The sentencing follows a May 28, 2026, trial in which an Escambia County jury found Franklin guilty of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm and aggravated assault by threat with a deadly weapon.

The charges stem from a shooting on December 25, 2024. According to court records, law enforcement officers were dispatched to Baptist Hospital early Christmas morning after a victim arrived at the emergency room suffering from gunshot wounds.

Investigators quickly learned that the holiday celebration at a local residence had turned into a nightmare. Witnesses reported that Franklin threatened his family with a shotgun before turning the weapon on his wife, shooting her once in the leg and once in the chest.

Franklin fled the residence with the shotgun before deputies could arrive at the scene. Responding deputies later recovered spent shotgun shells inside the family home.

The investigation and subsequent arrest were handled jointly by the Pensacola Police Department and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FRONT FEATURE