STUART — A Palm City man authorities say killed his father and then buried the body in the family’s back yard has been indicted by a Martin grand jury on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

The grand jury returned the indictment against Tyson Larimer Chaffin late Wednesday after spending the day hearing evidence presented by Assistant State Attorneys Erin Kirkwood and Bernie Romero.

Chaffin, 26, who is being held without bail at the Martin County jail, is accused of shooting to death his 54-year-old father, Charles Franklin Chaffin. Authorities found his body buried behind his Palm City Farms home on Wisteria Way, near the entrance to Florida’s Turnpike on Martin Downs Boulevard,

A murder investigation was launched by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office after the suspect’s 23-year-old girlfriend, Keisha Stamper committed suicide and her grandmother in Kentucky told deputies she killed herself because she was upset about the murder.

Authorities believe Chaffin shot and killed his father Aug. 1, but the body wasn’t discovered until Aug. 13.

When confronted, Chaffin told detectives he shot his father in the forehead with a .44 caliber handgun during a domestic dispute when he was attempting to remove his belongings from the home, according to arrest reports.

Chaffin said the day before the murder, he’d told his father Stamper had threatened to call police with information that the elder Chaffin was growing marijuana at the home.

On Aug. 1, as Chaffin attempted to get his belongings, he said he saw his father was angry, carrying a handgun and tearing apart the siding on an outside wall near his room.

As a dispute between the two men escalated, according to Chaffin’s statements to authorities, he became fearful for his life and grabbed his gun and fired, striking his father in the head.

He said he then panicked and used a wheelbarrow to carry the body to the back of the property, where he buried Charles Chaffin. After that, he planted three trees over the area.
Melissa E. Holsman, TCPalm.com

PORT ST. LUCIE — It was an “all night” argument over infidelity — complete with a purported audio tape of the “cheating” — that culminated with a woman stabbing her boyfriend of several years, according to a recently released arrest affidavit and police.

Police said they met the victim Thursday morning at St. Lucie Medical Center, where his girlfriend, Jennece Cordella Shaw, drove him after the incident. (more…)

JENSEN BEACH — A man was charged Saturday evening with domestic battery after he drenched his wife with a garden hose and attacked her, according to an affidavit released Monday.

The altercation began when the victim entered the couple’s residence in the 1400 block of Northeast Chardon Street, while smoking a cigarette.

The affidavit says the victim’s husband, John Jeffrey Murray, 51, began yelling at her about smoking in the house and sprayed her with the hose.
(more…)

By LAURA GREEN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
A Port St. Lucie Police officer responding to a domestic call shot and killed a man who police say was armed and a threat to the officers.
At about 1 a.m. Sunday, Manuel Morales’ sister called police to the home at 1513 SE Croquet Street to help her brother, Public Information Officer Tom Nichols said.
When police came to the home where Morales had locked himself in a bedroom and refused to come out, they broke in.
“Manny was armed and he failed to comply with our commands,” Nichols said. “The officers felt their safety was in jeopardy.”
Officer Albert Riccardi shot Morales twice in the left torso and is now on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure, he said. Nichols did not have the full name of the other officer in the room.
Morales was taken to a trauma center where he died.
Nichols would not identify the weapon Morales was holding. Police are still investigating, he said.