WEST PALM BEACH — A man who killed a stranger outside a Singer Island hotel after seeing him speak to his girlfriend — and later claimed he fired in self-defense — has been found guilty of second-degree murder.
Jurors convicted 45-year-old Lawrence Antonio Mitchell on Oct. 23 of fatally shooting 28-year-old Troy Eugene Nichols in the parking lot of the Seaside Bar & Grill, next to the Sands Hotel. The verdict carries a potential life sentence. Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer has not yet scheduled Mitchell’s sentencing hearing.
According to prosecutors, Nichols approached Mitchell’s girlfriend inside the crowded bar on Feb. 14, 2023, and offered to buy her a drink. Assistant State Attorneys Chrichet Mixon and Alyssa Loewenstein said Mitchell confronted Nichols in the parking lot, drew a handgun from his waistband and fired as Nichols walked away, striking him once in the head from 58 feet…