A star college football player was allegedly shot and killed by a former college basketball player while visiting his hometown in Florida on Mother’s Day weekend.
Nathaniel Bernard Jennings, 19, was gunned down in Downtown Melbourne after police said he got into an argument with suspect Stephan Dieujuste, 24, near Neon Rodeo bar on Saturday at around 1:50 a.m., Florida Today reported.
Melbourne Police and Fire Rescue quickly responded to the scene, where they found Jennings — a freshman defensive lineman for the University of Northwestern, St. Paul — unresponsive.
He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.
Dieujuste, a former Eastern Florida State College point guard, was questioned by police at the scene and claimed the shooting was in self-defense.
The former college basketball player was later arrested and charged with manslaughter. He is currently being held at the Brevard County Jail Complex.
The shooting was captured on newly installed downtown surveillance cameras, city officials confirmed to Florida Today.
Police are still investigating what sparked the argument between the two men.
It’s also unclear if Jennings, a graduate of Heritage High School, and Dieujuste, a graduate of Bayside High School, knew each other.
“It is an active investigation,” a spokesperson for the Melbourne Police Department, Lt. Bradley Blount, told Florida Today.
After news broke of the star defense lineman’s death, the head football coach at the University of Northwestern, Matt Moore, released a statement praising Jenning’s character on and off the gridiron.
“Nate was a treasured member of our football team, being honored with all-conference accolades following his first year of collegiate competition,” Moore said, according to WESH 2.
“For as talented as Nate was on the football field, he was an even better person off of it. His contagious energy and positivity will be missed. We are praying for Nate’s mother, Autumn, brother Isaiah, and other members of his extended family during this difficult time.”
The rising college football star finished his freshman season at Northwestern with 55 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and one fumble recovery.
Jennings’ death is the first reported homicide in Melbourne this year, according to city crime statistics. It is also only the second homicide to happen in the downtown area in the last two years.
Randy Bennett — a bar owner who’s worked downtown for nearly a decade — said the shooting happened in front of the business next to his, and his staff was working when the “whole thing went down.”
“Downtown is beautiful, it’s safe, people aren’t getting their stuff stolen,” Bennett told WESH 2. “This was an isolated incident by a couple people who decided to take it into their own hands instead of buying each other a beer.”
“Very upsetting because this is a nice place to come,” local resident Linda Bouley told the outlet.
“I’m glad they found the [suspect]. It doesn’t really give me relief because it’s like why did this happen? Why is a 19-year-old getting shot? Why does somebody have a gun out here where this is supposed to be an area that you just come to enjoy yourself.”
Dieujuste made his initial court appearance on Monday and was ordered held without bond, court records show.
His next court appearance has been set for June 5.
