A homeless man says he beat another homeless man to “a bloody pulp” on Colonial Drive after the man allegedly stole his chicken and ate it without remorse.
An affidavit and body camera footage have shed light on the arrest of 57-year-old Mark Kevin Sholler, who is accused of the second degree murder of Jose Riojas.
Sholler was arrested on Tuesday, April 18, by Orlando Police Department officers in connection with the homicide, which took place at around 3:20 a.m. that day.
During that incident, units responded to the Lynx bus stop directly in front of the McDonald’s located at 3005 W Colonial Drive after receiving two calls from witnesses regarding a man slamming another man’s head into the ground.
Upon arrival, deputies found Riojas lying on the ground and began administering CPR and other life-saving efforts. Riojas was pronounced deceased just over 30 minutes later by responding units from the Orlando Fire Department.
A witness told police that he was sitting with Riojas at the bus stop when Sholler approached them and began attacking Riojas unprovoked. The witness says Sholler threw Riojas to the ground and “repeatedly punched him in the face.” The witness says Sholler slammed Riojas’ head on the ground until he became unresponsive and stopped defending himself.
Police detained Sholler and transported him to OPD headquarters for an interview. During an interview with police, Sholler indicated that Riojas had “violated” his rights and had gone through his things.
“My chicken was inside a bag inside my duffel, my suitcase, and I put it in there to keep the ants off it and everything else in the bag,” said Sholler. He said that Riojas “opened the suitcase up, grabbed the bag” and “ate the chicken.”
During their investigation, authorities observed body camera footage from the incident in which Sholler makes spontaneous statements about the situation.
“[Expletive] is tealing from me, man, what am I supposed to do?” said Sholler in the video. “Let him do it? No, that ain’t right. I said, you took my chicken, he said ‘I’ll take it if I want.’ The [expletive] he think he is? This is the real world man. I beat his ass to a bloody pulp, you damn right.”
Sholler is currently being held at the Orange County Jail. He faces a charge of second degree murder and a sex offender violation. There are no additional court dates set in his case, according to Orange County court records.