DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. — A Duval County grand jury upgraded a charge for a man accused of killing of a Jacksonville sheriff’s corrections officer in October 2024 in an indictment filed earlier this month.

The indictment, filed Jan. 16, charges 30-year-old Demaurea Grant with first-degree murder, an upgrade from the second-degree murder charge he previously faced. He also faces charges of discharging a firearm from a vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and aggravated assault. The indictment charges 25-year-old Makayla Huggins with accessory after the fact as well.

On Oct. 12, 2024 around 1:20 a.m., corrections officer Brad McNew, who was off duty at the time, was shot by Grant who was involved in a domestic dispute with Huggins at Love’s Travel Stop on Jacksonville’s Northside, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

McNew was employed with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for 24 years and had just finished his shift when he was shot at the Duval Road truck stop. He was not in uniform, JSO said.

Sheriff T.K. Waters called the shooting “senseless violence” and “disturbing.”

“He’s the epitome of a public servant to me,” Waters said about McNew. “He could have ignored it, but he didn’t.”

Police said Grant shot McNew from the passenger window of a black 2000 Mustang with a North Carolina license plate.

In surveillance footage released by JSO showing the moments that led up to the shooting, a man identified as Grant is seen exiting the Mustang, putting a handgun on its hood, then throwing a woman the sheriff’s office said is Huggins, out of the car.

McNew then intervened and asked if the woman was OK, according to JSO. When this happened, JSO said Grant told McNew it was a “family matter” being addressed, and pointed the gun at McNew.

The sheriff’s office said Grant shot McNew through the Mustang’s passenger window multiple times, and fled the scene with Huggins shortly after. McNew was then taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Grant is currently in custody in Gaston County, North Carolina, and is being held without bond until he is extradited to Florida. Waters said many resources went into Grant’s arrest, which the agency announced the day after the incident. Huggins was also arrested around the same time, but on unrelated charges.

As for Huggins, the 25-year-old had her “arraignment and initial plea conference” in Duval County court on Tuesday. She pleaded not guilty to accessory after the fact, and will have her first pre-trial hearing on Feb. 25.