Panama City man smiles before second-degree murder conviction

PANAMA CITY, Fla. ( WMBB ) — A local jury deliberated a little over an hour before finding a Panama City man guilty of second-degree murder.

“We the jury find the defendant guilty of murder in the second degree as charged in the information.”

39-year-old Justin Drinkard was smiling at the camera before the guilty verdict was read. Drinkard beat 20-year-old Jerry Benefield to death with an aluminum baseball bat.

Drinkard bought meth from Benefield at his home on Alaska Avenue on November 25, 2018. Drinkard took the drugs, then made sexual advances towards Benefield’s girlfriend, who’s referred to as A.J. to protect her identity.

Drinkard and Benefield got into a physical altercation. A.J. attacked Drinkard, hitting him with pots, pans, and other objects to get him off of Benefield, but he was unfazed. A.J. says she saw Drinkard beat Benefield’s face with the bat before she ran next door to get help.

Defense attorney Don Pumphrey claims Drinkard never hit Benefield with the bat. Pumphrey says Benefield’s injuries don’t match up with the alleged weapon.

“He explained the skull fractures in detail and showed how it had to be a flat-surface object that caused the skull fracture. If the bat didn’t make the hit, members of the jury, you need to acquit,” Pumphrey said.

Pumphrey even suggested that A.J. could’ve made the fatal blows to Benefield while she was high on meth trying to defend her boyfriend.

“Every time she took that brick, she struck with full force every time. Do you recall what she said? She said Justin Drinkard didn’t bleed at all. It didn’t faze him. But in the fog of war, she did still recognize that every time she struck, Benefield bled more,” Pumphrey said.

The jury believed A.J.’s eyewitness testimony instead.

“He was just swinging it. Jerry was just laying there. He couldn’t even do anything,” A.J. said.

Overstreet says the defense used A.J. as a scapegoat.

“When the facts are against you, argue law. When the law’s against you, argue the facts. When both are against you, put someone else on trial,” Overstreet said.

Drinkard was also found guilty of trespassing, the lesser charge of burglary with battery. He was not found guilty of sexual battery.

Drinkard will be held in the Bay County Jail until his sentencing in May. He faces up to life in prison.

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