A Bermudian charged with fatally shooting his mother has been found not guilty by a Florida jury after a trial.

Alexander Deltoro Jr was accused of shooting Cindy Deltoro in the face outside his parents’ home in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Margate and was charged with manslaughter.

However, he said in court that he was attempting to defend himself from his father and accidentally shot his mother in a scuffle.

A Broward County jury found Mr Deltoro not guilty on Tuesday after under five hours of deliberation.

According to NBC Miami, Mr Deltoro cried and hugged Ron Baum, his lawyer, after the verdict was read.

Mr Baum said: “He was trying to protect his mother from his father and then he protected his father for his mother. And it’s just extremely sad that in five and a half years he hasn’t been able to grieve his mother’s death.”

During his trial, the court heard that Mr Deltoro had gone out with his parents on December 14, 2019, to celebrate his 28th birthday when an argument erupted between him and his father.

Police accused Mr Deltoro of elbowing his father, Alexander Deltoro Sr, in the face while driving but the defence argued that he had accidentally made contact with his father while negotiating a turn.

Mr Deltoro told the court that the argument escalated when they returned home. He alleged that when his mother attempted to intervene, his father brandished a firearm.

“I feared for my mom and myself,” he said. “I didn’t know what he was going to do. I didn’t know if he was either going to attack me or attack my mom.”

Mr Deltoro said that his father pushed his mother to the ground and, during the ensuing struggle, he accidentally shot his mother in the face.

“When I went to raise the gun, that’s when he came in with his left arm and he smacked the gun out of my hand and that’s when it went off,” he said.

Prosecutors challenged his version of events, noting that he did not mention his father having a firearm when he was interrogated about the shooting and no other weapon was found at the scene.

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