Wife Of Accused Shooter In Florida City Defends Husband

FLORIDA CITY(CBS4)---A Florida City man is charged with attempted murder after a shooting that stunned neighbors and sparked a brief police pursuit.

The accused shooter's wife told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that her husband was forced to fire his weapon because he was defending himself against a "much larger" man during an argument.

"My husband would never try to hurt anyone," said the wife of the accused shooter, 32-year-old Lee Denton.

She did not want to give her name or show her face but she wanted to speak out.

"My husband was defending himself," she told D'Oench. "That man who was shot has been in fights a lot and he was much bigger. My husband should not have been charged. He has not done anything like that before," she said, "My husband would never hurt anyone. He would never intentionally hurt anyone like that."

She said, "I just hope the man who was shot is going to be ok."

Homestead Police Detective Sergeant David Hunsberger told D'Oench that it appeared that fight was caused by an argument about drugs.

Hunsberger said Denton was not providing many details but Hunsberger said police were receiving information from witnesses.

The incident began Friday morning outside the victim's home at S.W. 8th Street and S.W. 6th Place.

Police say Forsythe had gone to Denton's home where the argument started and where the shots were fired.

"They were fighting by the house, the bigger guy and the smaller guy," said witness Junior McNair. "Then the smaller guy got shot. I heard two gun shots. Boom. Boom. I can't believe this happened. I mean this is Florida City."

When police responded, they thought at one point that the gunman had fled on a motorcycle. A brief pursuit followed, ending when a Florida City officer was slightly injured when his unit had an accident and a flat tire at S.W. 336th St. and S.W. 192nd Ave.

Police said the motorcyclist was not connected to the shooting.

Chopper 4 was over the scene in Florida as Denton was put in to a police car and taken away, as his wife held their four-month-old daughter in her arms.

"He's a good guy," she said of her husband. "And my daughter is safe. I just feel these charges are not right."

Florida City Police expected to take Denton to the Miami-Dade jail. Denton was expected to face a judge in bond court Friday morning.

"I'm going to get an attorney," said his wife.

It was not clear if Denton had been arrested before.

The condition of John Forsythe was not clear. His friends and neighbors said his wife was with him at Kendall Regional Medical Center.