PANAMA CITY — A local man has been found guilty of an armed robbery that left one man paralyzed.
A news release from the State Attorney’s Office identifies the defendant as 19-year-old Dexter Allen Owens. The jury returned its guilty verdict on June 3.
On Oct. 12, 2024, according to a court filing and prosecutors, Owens drove a car with two passengers to the home of 20-year-old Stephen Long’s girlfriend. Long got into the back seat of Owens’ vehicle and handed a few grams of marijuana to the front seat passenger.
Long said he was looking at his phone, awaiting payment, and when he looked up, he saw Owens pointing a gun at his chest, according to the state attorney.
A Glock 19X with an extended magazine was tucked into Long’s waistband. Online retailers sell the weapon for between $500 and $700. According to Owens’ arrest affidavit, Owens escalated the drug deal into an armed robbery when he saw the weapon.
“I let him take my phone and everything, I was scared to move,” Long is quoted as saying in the state attorney’s release. “We’re sitting there a minute or two or so and nothing’s being said … so I try to run.”
When Long attempted to exit through the back door, Owens hit him in the back with a gun and then shot him, according to the release. Owens’ arrest affidavit says Long was shot in the back near his spine, then removed from the car.
Long is paralyzed and attended the 2026 trial in a wheelchair.
Owens went to flee the scene, but then pulled over and had his 15-year-old sister grab the magazine that had fallen from Long’s gun, according to the affidavit.
They drove home and took the stolen Glock 19X inside. Owens then used bleach to try to wipe any DNA or fingerprints off the weapon used in the shooting, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit says an unnamed co-defendant was instructed to hold the firearm so his prints would be on it, under Owens’ threat that “he would be next.”
Long’s phone was left in the vehicle, and his girlfriend was able to track its location. She told Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputies where Owens had parked the car, and law enforcement surrounded the home.
Authorities say that Owens had the unnamed co-defendant exit the home with the firearm and tell law enforcement that he, not Owens, had shot Long in self-defense.
After giving several stories to law enforcement, the affidavit says, Owens admitted to being the one who shot Long, but said he did so in self-defense.
The stolen Glock 19X was found hidden in Owens’ closet, prosecutors say. Owens was arrested the same day, Oct. 12, 2024.
While in court on June 3, the state attorney says, Owens told the court that he had gone to Long’s girlfriend’s home to purchase a gun, a story he had yet to tell investigators. All other statements given to deputies indicated that he had gone there to purchase marijuana.
“He lied again, and again, and again, and again during that interview,” prosecutor Frank Sullivan is quoted as saying in the state attorney’s release. “He has proven he will lie to get out of trouble and to avoid getting into trouble and to protect himself, and then he gets into court and tells you something he’s never told anyone before.”
Owens was found guilty of robbery with a firearm and aggravated battery with a firearm. The maximum sentence for robbery with a firearm is life in prison.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 23.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City teen found guilty in shooting that left one paralyzed
Reporting by Dylan Gentile, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dylan Gentile, Panama City News Herald | USA TODAY Network
