Photo by: cbs12
An arrest was made in a homicide that occurred at an apartment complex in West Palm Beach.
Demario Jones, 21, is accused of killing a man at the Lake Mangonia Apartments and faces a first-degree murder charge, according to the West Palm Beach Police Department.
On Feb. 21, at around 11:12 a.m., police responded to a shot fired call where deputies found Jeanariun St. Port, 19, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, the arrest report states. St. Port was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center where he died at 11:46 p.m., investigators noted.
While watching surveillance video, one of the investigators was able to identify Jones as one of the shooters, according to the statement, which also pointed out that he did so “without hesitation.” The report also states that the video showed Jones fleeing the scene to another complex north of Lake Mangonia.
“It was just loud, boom, back-to-back to back-to-back. I just knew it was gunshots and to get down,” said Kisha Smokes, a single mother of three small children who heard the gunfire that day in her apartment building at Lake Mangonia Apartments.
On Monday at 3:30 p.m., Jones was taken into custody where he was questioned by investigators from WPBPD.
“What do you think of the fact that they’ve made an arrest?” we asked Smokes. “Well actually I feel thankful because I couldn’t sleep, my kids were shook up,” Smokes said.
While being interviewed, Jones told police he was at the scene of homicide and stated, “he froze up and heard gunshots,” police said. Jones continued to tell investigators that he did not shoot the victim, the statement said. However, according to the arrest report, the surveillance video of the incident contradicted his statement.
The shooting happened near Roosevelt Middle School prompting the campus to operate under “limited movement due to law enforcement activity.”
“There’s really no neighborhoods safe to be honest with you, because we don’t know what’s goin’ through peoples’ minds nowadays. But I’m just glad they finally caught the guy,” said Tracy Parham, who often visits her daughter who lives at Lake Mangonia Apartments.
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Source: cbs12
