Panama City Man Convicted of Shooting at Car

A Panama City man was found guilty Wednesday of firing at a car full of young adults after chasing them for five miles from a parking lot argument.

Martae Lemon Coleman, 29, was convicted of four counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle. Judge Timothy Register scheduled sentencing for Aug. 14. The attempted murder charges carry potential life sentences under Florida's 10-20-Life law.

The incident began Sept. 29, 2024, when a verbal dispute at the Gold Nugget on U.S. 98 escalated into gunfire at the intersection of Back Beach Road and Allison Avenue in Panama City Beach.

Prosecutors Jeff Moore and Morgan Morrell presented nine witnesses showing Coleman followed the victims after the parking lot confrontation. Both groups were celebrating birthdays when a comment about a car burnout sparked the argument. The victims left after Coleman lifted his shirt to display a pistol in his waistband.

Video surveillance showed Coleman leaving in a friend's vehicle, then returning to his own car to pursue the victims' route along the coastal corridor. A friend who followed Coleman called him repeatedly, urging him to go home. That friend testified Coleman said he would beat the victims, then changed his statement to say he would shoot them. "Toward the end of the conversation he said he was going to shoot them and I heard gunshots rattle off over the phone," the friend said.

The victims, from the Greenwood area, stopped at a red light on Allison Avenue while searching for a hotel room. Coleman pulled alongside and opened fire without warning. The driver was struck in the hip. Bullets pierced the driver's and passenger's doors before Coleman fled.

Coleman testified he was following the victims only to get their license plate number, claiming they had flashed a gun at him first and fired at the traffic light. Prosecutors presented no evidence supporting his account.

"He wasn't done after everyone left the parking lot," Moore told the jury. "If he was done and worried about his safety, he would've called police. They were shot because he was mad at what was said and wouldn't let it go."

Coleman was arrested at his home the next morning. Bay County Sheriff's Office, Panama City Police Department and Panama City Beach Police Department identified him through traffic and surveillance footage.