Miami Gardens

Miami Gardens man testifies he needed to shoot ex-girlfriend to ‘stop a threat'

Gayle Blount is charged with attempted murder in the May 2021 shooting of Bridget Knighton

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A Miami Gardens man who shot his girlfriend multiple times nearly four years ago testified at his attempted murder trial Wednesday to say it was done in self-defense.

On the second day of his trial, Gayle Blount took the stand to try and convince jurors he was the victim that needed to shoot his ex-girlfriend about five times, for his safety, inside a Miami Gardens apartment back in May of 2021.

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Bridget Knighton was shot and left with injuries across her body, needing more than 10 surgeries since the incident.

Bridget Knighton was shot multiple times by her ex-boyfriend, Gayle Blount
Bridget Knighton
Bridget Knighton
Bridget Knighton was shot multiple times by her ex-boyfriend, Gayle Blount

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"I was just trying stop a threat. I was trying to incapacitate her, but not kill her," Blount said on the stand Wednesday.

Blount said the couple was arguing because he turned the television on inside the bedroom. As a veteran, he claimed he needed to sleep with noise in the background, but Knighton supposedly got upset.

On Tuesday, Knighton testified and told jurors her ex was always aggressive and she wanted him out of the apartment.

Amid the arguing, Blount told jurors he shoved Knighton to the sofa to try and get her out of the way because she was preventing him from leaving. The defendant claims he wanted to leave the apartment because she had called the police.

However, Blount said he noticed Knighton reaching for her purse which he assumed might have a gun inside.

"I take out my gun and I shoot four or five times, pop-pop-pop," said Blount.

On Thursday, jurors are expected to begin deliberating and it will be up to them to decide if Blount attempted to kill Knighton or if this is a case of self-defense.

Gayle Blount
Miami-Dade Corrections
Miami-Dade Corrections
Gayle Blount
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