FORT PIERCE — Shelitta Woods calls the past six months “miserable.”

“You got to understand, it’d been like 13, 14 years before I had another child,” Woods said. “It was just me and Lil’ Bo, just me and Lil’ Bo, everywhere I go, me and Lil’ Bo.”

Woods’ 16-year-old son, Torenda “Lil’ Bo” Youngblood Jr., was fatally shot at his bus stop March 9, two days after Demetrius Wells, 18, sustained fatal wounds in a drive-by shooting. Two men also were hit by gunfire during separate shootings between the homicides. (more…)

STUART — Described as a loving father and caring person, Jerome Hutchinson was found early Monday morning face down on the sidewalk leading to his East Stuart residence.

The 24-year-old man had been shot in the chest, the second to die in an exceptionally violent weekend in Stuart. The first was Michael Morrison, 43, found early Saturday morning on his back next to his Jeep at The Crossings at Indian Run Apartments less than four miles away.

Morrison also had been shot in the chest, but police haven’t found a nexus between the two killings, police spokesman Sgt. Marty Jacobson said Monday.
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OKEECHOBEE COUNTY — The death of a 49-year-old woman found by family members appears to be a homicide, and a sheriff’s spokesman Wednesday said a neighbor has been taken into custody.

Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office deputies went Tuesday night to an address in the 2700 block of Northeast 11th Court and met with Roberta “Bobbie” Elizabeth Christensen’s son and daughter-in-law.

They reported coming to the residence in the Pine Ridge Park subdivision to see Christensen, a waitress at Golden Corral, and finding her dead inside.

A preliminary examination indicated the death was “most likely the result of a homicide,” a release states.

“The nature of the injury appears to be from a sharp instrument,” the release states.

A neighbor in his 20s was taken into custody Wednesday and Detective Ted Van Deman, sheriff’s public information officer, said he will be charged in connection with the death.

“We’re confident we have the right person in custody,” Van Deman said.

Sheriff’s detectives are interviewing others to determine whether anyone else could have played a role in the death.

The Sheriff’s Office declined to reveal a possible motive and also declined to provide further details about Christensen’s injuries.

By Will Greenlee, TCPalm.com

OKEECHOBEE COUNTY — The death of a 49-year-old woman found by family members appears to be the result of a homicide, and sheriff’s investigators are interviewing “persons of interest,” the sheriff’s office stated Wednesday.

Sheriff’s deputies responded Tuesday night to an address in the 2700 block of Northeast 11th Court and met with Roberta “Bobbie” Elizabeth Christensen’s son and daughter-in-law.

They reported coming to the residence in the Pine Ridge Park subdivision to see Christensen, a waitress at Golden Corral, and finding her dead inside. (more…)

Fort Pierce Police Chief Sean Baldwin shakes Mark Steele's hand after the academy cadet found the gun believed to have been used in Friday's fatal shooting.

Steele, 20, and 15 other cadets enrolled at Indian River State College were asked to find the gun used in a Friday night shooting that left a Fort Pierce man dead in what is thought to have been retaliation for his beating a woman earlier that evening.

The woman’s brother, Fort Pierce resident Jeremiah Minatee, 18, was arrested Sunday in connection with the shooting.

Minatee has denied the charges and police hadn’t been able to find a key piece of evidence: the gun. (more…)

Jeremiah Minatee

Still, 22-year-old Herbie Innocent ended up dead Friday night and, two days later, Minattee, 18, was behind bars for his murder.

Police say witnesses reported that Innocent’s death was retaliation for him allegedly beating Minatee’s sister before he was shot dead outside a home on Ormond Avenue.

The sister told police Innocent, her ex-boyfriend, had punched her in the face several times when he met to pick up their baby earlier that night. After he left, the woman called her mother, who showed up with Minatee to check on her, she said.

Mary Dawson told police her son, Minatee, was upset. He had received a message from Innocent about the incident and meeting later that night to fight.

“Don’t do it,” she told her son. “It ain’t worth it.” (more…)

Gary Thibodeau

Gary Thibodeau, 55, was shot during the Thursday night break-in and later pronounced dead at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute, according to police spokeswoman Audria Moore. Thibideau’s brother, Douglas Costa, 54, was pistol whipped. He was treated and released from the hospital, Moore said.

At 10:36 p.m. that night, police responded to the victim’s home in the 500 block of Hampton Place for shooting activity. When officers arrived they found Thibodeau still alive lying on his side.

Thibodeau, his brother and two other people had been sitting in the living room when two men entered the opened front door, ordered them to the ground and robbed them at gun point, Moore said. The suspects pulled their shirts up above their noses to cover their faces.

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FORT PIERCE — Police have arrested a 19-year-old Vero Beach man they say stole the vehicle suspected to have been used in the murder of 18-year-old Demetrius Wells on Saturday.

Schneider Joseph

The 2006 Mazda had been reported missing to Port St. Lucie police on Thursday, but it wasn’t until Saturday that Fort Pierce investigators learned that it had actually been carjacked, McWilliams said. Police recovered the car on Monday in the 2200 block of Metzger Road.

On Wednesday, police arrested Schneider Joseph, 19, on charges of armed carjacking, robbery with a firearm and possession of a weapon by a delinquent. Joseph, who police say is a member of a gang, has not been accused of killing Wells.

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