Prosecutors say the Ponte Vedra Beach shooting left two Atlantic Beach residents dead and touched off a multi-county search near TPC Sawgrass.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A St. Johns County grand jury has indicted Christian Joseph Barrios on two first-degree murder counts in the March 13 shooting deaths of Melissa Wood and Jason Chatham outside a Walgreens in Ponte Vedra Beach, where investigators say a domestic dispute ended in gunfire and a nighttime manhunt.

The case matters now because it has moved beyond the first rush of arrests and public statements into a formal murder prosecution. Barrios, 32, was first jailed after deputies tracked him into Nassau County the morning after the shooting. Since then, prosecutors in Florida’s 7th Judicial Circuit have announced an indictment, sheriff’s investigators have released more detail about the alleged route Barrios took before and after the attack, and family members of Wood and Chatham have pushed back on parts of the early public narrative.

Deputies were called about 10:30 p.m. March 13 to the Walgreens at 860 A1A North near Palm Valley Road, across from the area around The Players Championship. Sheriff Rob Hardwick said the shooting grew out of a domestic violence situation and that the suspect knew both victims. When deputies arrived, they found Wood, 46, and Chatham, 42, with multiple gunshot wounds. Both were taken to hospitals and later died. Hardwick said Barrios fled the scene on foot and crossed onto nearby TPC Sawgrass property. “Here we are dumping all these resources and families are gonna mourn two people that were shot and killed in a parking lot of Walgreens,” Hardwick said after the arrest, describing what he called a domestic violence case that turned deadly in a public place.

Investigators say the state’s case is being built from a tight sequence of witness statements and physical evidence. According to the arrest record, Barrios asked his mother for a ride to the Walgreens because he believed he would find Wood there with another man. The mother told detectives Barrios was riding in the back seat, saw Wood’s vehicle, jumped out and moved toward it. Seconds later, she heard multiple shots and called 911. Detectives later found an empty gun holster in the back seat of her car. The warrant says Barrios’ cellphone was later traced to TPC Sawgrass. It also says he appeared at a Jacksonville home around 3 a.m., wet and frantic, asked for clothes and a phone, and told people there he had shot someone, fired a full magazine, reloaded and fired more rounds. Authorities have not publicly explained whether any surveillance video captured the shooting itself.

The deaths quickly widened into a regional law enforcement operation. Deputies said Barrios moved through the area near the golf complex, spoke with workers and security staff, handled a PGA Tour radio and then kept going. A nearby burglary was later reported, and investigators say a black BMW X3 was taken from a garage after someone entered through a sliding glass door. Nassau County deputies found the BMW hours later, and authorities said Barrios first stopped, then sped away at more than 100 mph, ran red lights, crashed near County Road 108 and Middle Road, and fled into the woods. K-9 teams and multiple agencies set a perimeter before he was captured shortly before 8 a.m. March 14. The search was serious enough that officials delayed public access at The Players that morning.

The public portrait of the victims has unfolded more slowly than the arrest record. Wood’s brother, Jeremy Hackward, wrote in a fundraiser that his sister had been killed by a jealous ex-boyfriend and said she had recently become a grandmother. Her daughter, Valdez, disputed the claim that Wood had been unfaithful and told local radio that she believed her mother may have been trying to help Barrios. Valdez also said Barrios called her the night of the shooting sounding distressed and talking in a way that made her fear he might harm himself. Chatham’s family remembered him separately as a warm, adventurous presence. Those accounts have not changed the charges, but they have added another layer to the case by challenging the simple motive frame that appeared in the first police description.

The prosecution is now in a more formal stage. Court records show Barrios previously entered a written not-guilty plea. On March 31, the State Attorney’s Office announced that a St. Johns County grand jury had returned an indictment charging him with two counts of first-degree murder. Earlier booking records and sheriff’s statements also listed other allegations tied to the same episode, including burglary of an occupied dwelling, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, shooting into a conveyance and grand theft of a motor vehicle. News4JAX, citing court records, reported that Barrios had been arrested 27 times before this case, largely on drug and theft offenses, and was being held without bond. Prosecutors have publicly identified Managing Assistant State Attorney Sarah Thomas as the lawyer assigned to the case. Any decision on whether the state will seek the death penalty had not been publicly announced in the materials reviewed here.

In Ponte Vedra Beach, the setting sharpened the shock. Witness Caleb Mitchell told local television he heard six shots as he was going into the Walgreens and then saw law enforcement flood the area. Residents told reporters that this kind of violence felt out of place in a community better known for golf traffic and upscale neighborhoods than for a late-night double homicide in a pharmacy parking lot. The contrast between the polished tournament corridor and the chaotic overnight search helped turn the case into more than a local crime brief. It became a story about how quickly private conflict can spill into one of the region’s most public spaces.

The case now stands as an indicted double-homicide prosecution. The next major milestone is Barrios’ return to court in St. Johns County as prosecutors move from arrest paperwork to trial preparation and possible capital-case decisions.

Author note: Last updated April 13, 2026.