PORT ST. LUCIE — A police officer received a three-day suspension following a relationship with an adult entertainment business employee with an arrest history and after helping with efforts to bond a homicide suspect out of jail, according to internal affairs records released Friday and a spokesman.

Port St. Lucie Police Officer Christopher Zermeno, now 21, also said he drank alcohol at a public business while he was 20 years old and performed a driving license check of the Body Talk Sports Bar worker with whom he said he had a sexual relationship.

Zermeno “said this situation has been a ‘slap in the face’ and his actions could be misconstrued and looks bad in the public’s view,” according to the records.
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FORT PIERCE — A homicide suspect and his girlfriend each appear to have been shot once Sunday morning before their bodies were dumped behind a scruffy, abandoned home on Coronado Avenue, officials said Monday.

The bodies of Travis John Lattimore, 21, and 35-year-old Sharpkina Yolanda Woods were found face down around 2 p.m. Sunday in a vacant lot behind the home at 1700 Coronado Ave. Lattimore, who’s been arrested more than 15 times since November 2002, was wanted in connection with a Feb. 8 homicide in Miami.

The two lived in Fort Pierce, though had been here for about five months, Sheriff Ken Mascara said.
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FORT PIERCE — A teenager who was shot in the head one week ago died from his injuries early Tuesday, Fort Pierce police said.

Detectives are still investigating the shooting of 17-year-old Travis Lee Woods of the 2900 block of Avenue D. Residents in the 2500 block of Avenue F called 911 at 10:40 p.m. Dec. 15. when they heard gunshots, Sgt. Dennis McWillaims said. Police drove to the block and found Woods wounded and alone, McWilliams said. (more…)

When “America’s Most Wanted” interviewed Jupiter Police Detective Jason Vansteenburgh Friday morning, the highly rated show was interested in the town of Jupiter and in the manhunt for Paul Merhige, accused of gunning down four members of his family on Thanksgiving night.

“Homicide is very rare in Jupiter,” said Vansteenburgh, who is the city’s police liaison with the U.S. Marshals’ Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force. “Also, we have had a manhunt for Merhige since Thanksgiving night, and are working both internationally and nationally to find him.”

“America’s Most Wanted” is expected to lead its telecast Saturday night at 9 p.m. on Fox with the Thanksgiving Day murders, and plans to air the in-depth story they are now developing on Dec. 26, according to Jupiter police.
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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…)