A jury on Monday found a man guilty of fatally shooting one person and injuring another outside a club in Fort Lauderdale back in 2024.
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Jorge Varona Suarez was found guilty of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder in the shooting at Band House along Northwest 62nd Street on Jan. 29, 2024. The shooting killed Marcel Noel and left Torie Cross injured.
“The defendant felt disrespected by Marcel Noel and Torie Cross, and he felt that they needed to die because of that disrespect,” prosecutor Tonya Johnson said.
Surveillance video proved Varona Suarez killed Noel and injured the cross, but he contends it was self-defense.
“He believed that his life was in danger and that he was justified in his actions to prevent his own death,” defense attorney Emma Wilkes said.
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Varona Suarez took the stand Thursday and told jurors that Noel and Cross threatened his life to the point he felt in danger. But he never called for help, hid the gun in his car, and wrote a text message to a friend the same day of the shooting saying, “Sometimes this is the only way to earn respect.”
The jury deliberated for more than seven hours over the course of two days before delivering the verdict.
Deputies put Varona Suarez in handcuffs the moment the guilty verdict came down.
His sentencing is set for July. The mandatory minimum sentence is life in prison.
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