A Florida man was sentenced to life without parole Friday for shooting a local father of two outside a St. Augustine bar just minutes after he texted a friend, “About to kill someone.”
Vance Wilkins, 36, pleaded guilty in September to one count of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Jason Mullins on Feb. 2, 2023.
Mullins, 50, who volunteered for the St. Francis House homeless shelter and the St. Augustine Historical Society, left behind a teenage daughter and son.
Judge R. Lee Smith imposed the maximum sentence after more than a dozen of Mullins’ family members and friends urged him to hold Wilkins accountable.
“I could not believe that a person like Jason could be gunned down by a cold-blooded killer for no reason,” his aunt, Jean Love, wrote in a victim impact statement. “I can’t really forgive him; only God can, but I can ask for justice.”
A close family friend described how the murder had devastated Mullins’ children and parents. “His children lost a future — a lifetime of moments, guidance, and support that they will never have,” wrote Joan Bailey.
His parents, Al and Nancy, are now shadows of their former selves, “forced to grapple with a loss so deep it defies comprehension,” she told the judge.
Wilkins and Mullins were inside the British Pub on Anastasia Island when witnesses reported hearing the two argue, according to police.
Surveillance footage of the alleyway behind the pub captured Wilkins in his truck engaging in a brief conversation with Mullins, who was leaning into the passenger-side window. Mullins appears to try to shake Wilkins’ hand, but Wilkins refuses before driving out of view.
According to police, Wilkins waited nearby in his truck for Mullins to exit the pub. When Mullins emerged, Wilkins approached him in the alleyway, pulled out a gun, and shot him in the chest.
A witness told police that after Mullins collapsed, Wilkins stood over him and continued to fire multiple shots before fleeing in his truck. Mullins died at the scene.
Investigators found that Wilkins texted a friend 15 minutes before the shooting, “About to kill someone” and “F—- Jason.”
An autopsy found 10 distinct bullet wounds on Mullins’ body.
Hours later, police tracked down Wilkins, who admitted to shooting Mullins.
“The defendant will never walk the streets of St. Augustine again, and the city is a safer and better place now that he is gone,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a statement
