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Courtesy photos / At far left, Christian Pursley, 37, of Ormond Beach (as shown, far left in his jail mug), is charged with first-degree murder in the New Year's shooting of Keith "Shorty" Roberts, 36, of South Daytona (shown at far right). Christian Pursley and wife, Shannon Pursley (shown in middle), sit together at their wedding reception in this photo from Christian Pursley's Facebook page, which was taken down two days after the homicide. Roberts died a block from the scene after he was struck by gunfire while sitting in his pick-up truck with Shannon Pursley at 2:30 a.m. outside the Rockin' Ranch. She ducked down as Pursley fired 12 rounds from a semi-automatic handgun as the vehicle sped off onto Nova Road, according to police.
You can read the homicide arrest report by clicking the attachment.
ORMOND BEACH -- Shannon Pursley may very well have told the police she was divorcing her husband leading up to the fateful early morning hours of New Year's when he allegedly opened fire outside the Rockin' Ranch, killing her friend and almost her, court records show she has not petitioned for a "disolution of marriage."
Christian and Shannon Pursley were legally married on May 15, 2004, in Volusia County, according to court records. The only other filing with the civil division of the courts by Shannon Pursley was a May 10, 2007, petition to prevent "removal of a minor child" from her by the child's father, Jonathan Kraushar, a citizen of Canada.
"There is no record of a filing for dissolution of marriage by either Shannon Pursley or Christian Pursley, a clerk in the civil division of the Clerk of the Court for Volusia County told VolusiaNews.net.
Shannon Pursley, in fact, told Ormond Beach police in the homicide report that she and her husband are "going through a divorce" and that she is "currently seeing" Roberts and had been "for two months."
Christian Pursley is charged with first-degree pre-meditated murtder and first-degree pre-meditated attempted murder in the 2:30 a.m. Jan. 1, shooting outside the Rockin' Ranch.
Another development in the case is that police obtained and secured surveillance video from 18 cameras inside and outside the Rockin' Ranch, owner Janet Ivanhoe told VolusiaNews.net.
Ivanhoe was not at her establishment on New Year's eve or even in the early morning hours when the shooting occurred, she said because she had been dealing with memorial services for her 92-year-old mother who pased away. This was the first time in her 29 years of owning the bar that she was not there during the holiday celebration.
Ivanhoe said she takes exception to a story published in the Daytona Beach News-Journal quoting her as saying the alleged gunman "just freaked out."
"That phrase, just freaked out, isn't in my vocabulary," Ivanhoe said. "If I had said something it might have been something like 'something must have pushed him over the edge."
Despite the newspaper report attributing what happened to her, Ivanhoe reiterated she wasn't there and was not aware of what had specifically occurred until she talked to police and turned over the surveillance videos.
An e-mail for clarification from VolusiaNews.net to the newspaper's editor on Ivanhoe's complaint did not produce a response.
According to the police report, Shannon Pursley told police investigators she and the victim had been at the bar for most of the night and that her husband initially came in saw her with Roberts and then left. She said a few hours passed before her husband saw the two of them together in the victim's vehicle and then left. He returned a short time later and said he wanted to talk to her, the wife said, and when she wouldn't get out of the vehicle, he opened fire.
She said she ducked as Roberts drove off before they stopped a short distance away. The police report states an officer found her standing outside the driver's side door covered in blood, but not shot. The bloodied victim was slumped onto the wheel and had no pulse. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach.
A dozen s.380 shell casings were recovered from the bar's parking lot. At least three of the rounds struck the victim in the torso. Shannon Pursley suffered cuts from flying glass from a shattered driver's side window.
Several of the bullets exited her passenger side window, according to the police report. Christian Pursley drove home and barricaded himself inside after a Sheriff's deputy flagged down by patrons outside the bar followed him a short distance later.
The Sheriff's SWAT team responded to assist Ormond Beach police and Pursley surrendered a few hours later. The State Attorney's Office has not announced whether it will seek the death penalty against Pursley, ordered held without bail at his first appearance.
In order for the death penalty to be possible punishment, the Volusia County grand jury would first have to convene and after hearing evidence, and then hand up an indictment for pre-meditated murder in the first degree.
His case has been assigned to Circuit Judge J. David Walsh.