Ocala Man Charged With Murder After Police Say He Shot Two Roommates Following Argument Over Ice Cream

An Ocala homeowner is charged with second-degree murder after police say he shot and killed two men who rented rooms in his house on Oct. 28, hours after officers had been called there over an argument about someone eating his ice cream. Mark Lynn Robinson, 69, surrendered at the scene and told investigators he shot both men, according to the Ocala Police Department.

The dead were identified as Charles Etheze, 69, and Michael Menkes, 78. Robinson so far faces one count of second-degree murder, in the death of Menkes, who police say was shot in the back as he ran from the house. Investigators are still examining Robinson's claim that he shot Etheze in self-defense, and police have said more charges are possible.

What police say happened

The home sits in the 1000 block of Southeast Eighth Street, near downtown Ocala. According to police accounts reported by the Ocala Star-Banner, officers were first called there at 4:16 p.m. on Oct. 28 about a verbal disturbance. They found three men who lived at the house and a dispute over one of them eating another's ice cream. Officers found no crime and left.

Two of the men then went for a walk. About an hour later, 911 callers began reporting gunshots at the house. When officers returned, they found Robinson, who owns the home, and he surrendered and said he had shot his roommates, police said.

Etheze was found dead inside. Menkes was found outside, and officers attempted lifesaving measures. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died, according to reports.

Robinson's account and the evidence

According to police, Robinson told a detective that after the first call he feared the two men would retaliate when they came back, so he got a 12-gauge shotgun and set it on the couch. When the men returned, a second argument broke out.

Robinson told investigators that Etheze had a knife and that both men rushed him, police said. He said he feared for his safety and fired multiple times at Etheze, then followed him into a hallway and shot him again. Police said they recovered a knife at the home.

Police said Menkes tried to run out the front door toward the gate when Robinson shot him in the back. Robinson told the detective he believed Menkes was going to come at him, but investigators said the evidence showed Menkes was fleeing. That finding is the basis for the murder charge, according to police.

WFTV reported that, according to a police report, Robinson admitted he had been drinking a bottle and a half of white wine before the shooting, and that the two men had referred to themselves as the "ice cream bandits." Robinson was arrested after his interview with Detective Crystal Bessette, the Star-Banner reported.

A troubled household

The Oct. 28 call was not the first time officers had been sent to the house. Police said they had responded there three times this year for disturbances involving Robinson and his roommates or neighbors, and no one had been arrested in those earlier calls.

At a news conference, Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken described the living arrangement as "dysfunctional" and called Robinson "an angry old man that had some alcohol problems," according to WFTV and FOX 35 Orlando. Two dogs were removed from the home for safekeeping, the Star-Banner reported.

Balken also told reporters that the city's recent killings were isolated and that Ocala remains a safe community. The Star-Banner reported that police counted nine murders in the city as of Oct. 29, compared with two in all of 2025. Among them, the newspaper reported, was the Jan. 7 shooting of 67-year-old Harold Whitt Harper as he gardened in his front yard, a case in which a 29-year-old man is charged with first-degree murder. In September, a drive-by shooting wounded a mother and her 5-year-old daughter, and two Reddick men were charged.

The charge and the self-defense question

Second-degree murder in Florida covers an unlawful killing committed by an act that is imminently dangerous to another person and shows a depraved mind, without a premeditated design to kill. It is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison, and under the state's 10-20-Life law, proof that the defendant fired a gun during the crime carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years.

The open question in the case is how investigators and prosecutors will treat the death of Etheze. Florida law allows a person to use deadly force when he reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, and a defendant can ask a judge for immunity from prosecution before trial. The law's strongest protection inside a home, the presumption that a resident reasonably feared death or great bodily harm from someone forcing his way in, does not apply when the person against whom force is used has a right to be in the dwelling, such as a tenant. That means any self-defense claim involving the men who rented rooms from Robinson would turn on the facts of the confrontation. If a defendant raises a credible claim of immunity, prosecutors must overcome it by clear and convincing evidence at a pretrial hearing. Robinson has told police that Etheze came at him with a knife. Investigators have not said whether the evidence supports that account, and as of the latest reports no charge had been filed in Etheze's death.

Robinson is presumed innocent. Police have described the charge as reflecting the evidence gathered so far, and the investigation remains open.

What's next

Robinson was booked into the Marion County Jail after his arrest and made a first court appearance on Oct. 30, according to news reports. Prosecutors with the State Attorney's Office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which covers Marion County, will decide whether to file formal charges and in what form, including whether to seek a grand jury indictment, which Florida requires for a first-degree murder charge.

Detectives are continuing to review physical evidence from the house and statements from witnesses, and police said further charges could come as that work continues.