UNIQUE BAYNARD thought the white Saturn sedan he was riding in was being followed through the streets of South Melbourne early one morning in April 2022. So BAYNARD grabbed a .45 caliber Taurus handgun from the center console, leaned out the rear driver-side window and opened fire, blowing three holes in the Nissan Maxima cruising behind him on Florida Avenue.

The driver BAYNARD tried to kill – but was unharmed – was a man simply driving to work at a nearby business around 5 a.m.  

And now BAYNARD, 31, will spend the next two decades in prison.

At a jury trial April 8, as Assistant State Attorneys Nader Hatoum and Kari Kies wrapped up the prosecution’s case, BAYNARD decided to plead no-contest to attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and two related gun charges. It was an “open court” plea, with no agreement between the prosecution and defense.

Circuit Judge Steve Henderson deemed BAYNARD guilty as charged and sentenced him to:

• 23 years in prison followed by five years’ probation for the attempted murder. The first 20 years of that prison sentence are “day for day,” meaning he will not be eligible to earn any time off for good behavior.
• 15 years in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a sentence to be served concurrently with the years for attempted murder.
• 15 years for discharging a firearm from a vehicle, also to be served concurrently.

The victim told Melbourne Police he was driving east on Florida Avenue in the predawn darkness when he “began hearing gunfire and observed (a) passenger leaning out of the rear driver side window of the suspect vehicle,” an arrest affidavit says.

“The victim then heard gunshots ricocheting off the front of his vehicle and windshield, at which time he put his vehicle in reverse,” the affidavit says.

Then, the white Saturn carrying BAYNARD crashed into bushes and a concrete pole at Northview Street. BAYNARD dropped the handgun to the ground, and the car’s front bumper fell off.  

Officers who responded to the scene found the bumper, the gun, six spent shell casings, and a trail of fresh engine fluid. They followed the fluid trail to a house on nearby Henry Street where they found a wrecked white Saturn and BAYNARD.

Police drove the victim to the site, where he positively identified BAYNARD as the shooter.

BAYNARD later confessed his role in the shooting, telling police he intended to kill the victim.