Boynton Beach man appears in court for alleged 2023 murder

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A Boynton Beach man appeared in court Wednesday for a first-degree murder charge stemming back to a 2023 killing.

Jaquan Perry, 22, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly shooting and killing 21-year-old Michael Brian Gawlik Jr. last September. During Perry's first appearance in court, the judge ordered him held without bond and prohibited him from coming in contact with the victim's family.

At the time of the shooting, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper found a BMW stalled on the side of Interstate 95 near West Woolbright Road. The trooper noticed someone was slumped over in the driver seat with the engine still running. Gawlik was found dead with blood splatted on his torso and an apparent gunshot wounds on his left thigh.

A handgun was pressed between the victim's thigh and the seat, Boynton Beach Police Department said in an arrest report.

Later, medical examiners would not only find the wound in his thigh, but a bullet wound piercing through the back of his neck and exiting through his chest.

Investigators also found surveillance footage from a RaceTrac gas station on West Woolbright Road, showing Perry follow the victim to his BMW, get in his own car and chase after the victim, according to the arrest report.

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Police ran Perry's plates and learned he was on probation for a weapons charge and had a criminal history dating back to 2019 when he reportedly pulled out a gun at a graduation party.

They tracked him to his address in Boynton Beach where they found his car running -- the same one depicted in the video, the arrest report stated. They found a bullet hole in the car door that appeared to have come from within.

Perry was home when police arrived and told them the car wasn't his, but he declined to speak further with detectives.

After months of investigating and obtaining warrants, police arrested Perry for first degree murder.

Perry is expected back in court on May 2.