Ja’Dion Love Hughes, 19, was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Waffle House at 10327 Front Beach Road in Panama City Beach on the night of June 3, 2025. Officers nearby heard a single gunshot about 10:12 p.m., found Hughes with a gunshot wound, and he was taken to Ascension Sacred Heart where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators say a dispute over the attempted sale of an illegal firearm escalated from words into a brief physical confrontation, during which police say 18-year-old Ja’Zai Mitchell fired the shot that struck Hughes. Two other youths were detained: 18-year-old Kiydre McCullough, who police say tried to hide a firearm in nearby bushes and then fled with Mitchell in a red Chevrolet Camaro, and a 16-year-old who was processed through juvenile authorities. Mitchell was charged with second-degree murder and related counts; McCullough was charged as an accessory after the fact and with tampering with evidence.

The investigation was described as active and authorities asked anyone with information to come forward. Does anyone have information about the events at the Waffle House that night or about Hughes’s movements beforehand?