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…)

FORT PIERCE — A 17-year-old boy was listed in “severely critical” condition at a local hospital Wednesday morning after being shot in the head late Tuesday night, officials said.

Travis Lee Woods, of the 2900 block of Avenue D, was shot about 10:40 p.m. before being taken to a local provisional trauma center in “very critical” condition. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — One man died, another was shot and six vehicles were found with bullet holes following a Monday shooting incident in the area of the 500 block of North 19th Street, police reported Tuesday.

Joseph Edward Torre, 20, was found face down in the front yard of an apartment building, and was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital. Torre, of the 1700 block of West Royal Tern Lane in Fort Pierce, had been shot in the torso and his breathing was shallow when officers arrived.
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ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Two Vero Beach residents were arrested early Wednesday after one admitted shooting an alligator and another was spotted putting pink-colored meat in a cabinet, according to recently released arrest affidavits.

Ernest Ray Hublur, 18, reportedly was shining a light on Alderman ranch off Shinn Road about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday. (more…)

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…)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — After weeks of police officer training in a classroom, Indian River State College students move on to a small platform that provides a high-tech simulation of how they react in a real-life situation.

They’re given a weapon that only emits lasers and equipped with a belt that zaps them if they put themselves in danger.

“It teaches consequences if they make bad decisions,” Stephen Huntsberger, associate dean of Public Service Education for IRSC, said of the VirTra Systems simulator at the complex.

The simulator is one of the planned demonstrations at Friday’s public open house at the new Indian River State College Public Safety Complex.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — A man accused of shooting a pickup truck on Interstate 95 — killing a German shepherd puppy inside — faces a felony charge in a case that remains under investigation, according to a police spokesman and a report obtained Thursday.

Andy Phillips, 22, is accused of firing two shots around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday at a Toyota Tundra pickup with two people and the puppy inside as it headed south on I-95 near Southwest Becker Road.

The victims, Laritza Y. Fontela, 19, and 20-year-old Yosdany Rodriguez, are from Miami, and Fontela said they were in Port St. Lucie visiting relatives. The assailants reportedly continued south in a Toyota 4Runner after the shooting. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — After Julia Rolon-Estrada died of a gunshot wound to the artery in her leg on July 26, 2006, she was wrapped in a blue tarp and again in a green blanket before being buried in the yard of her Port St. Lucie home, near a rear sliding glass door.

A dog trained to find cadavers helped authorities locate the newly tilled grave, which was covered with a wooden pallet holding 20 mulch bags stacked on top.

Rolon-Estrada’s jailed husband, 43-year-old Albert Estrada, state prosecutors say, is the man guilty of killing his wife and high-school sweatheart, who had walked out on him the night before she died at age 39.
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FORT PIERCE — About 6 p.m. Tuesday, the U.S. Marshall Fugitive Task Force arrested David Jerome Brown, 48, of the 500 block of North 27th Street in connection with a Monday night attack on a woman and shooting of her son.

Brown was apprehended at the corner of North 27th Street and Avenue G without incident, said Fort Pierce Detective Ben Thayer.

The male victim was shot in the genitals and his mother pistol whipped Monday night in a suspected domestic-related incident before the attacker fled in a pickup truck, according to a police report released Tuesday and a sergeant.
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A Belle Glade man arrested Wednesday on an attempted murder charge is the latest suspect to land behind bars in connection with two Okeechobee County shootings from early this month.

Ethan Harris, 26, is being held at the Palm Beach County jail without bond.

Harris is accused of shooting Okeechobee County resident Javaris Johnson, 24, in the back as Johnson was riding his three-wheel motorcycle along Front Street at about 11:30 p.m. on July 2, according to the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office.

Jarvis Johnson was able to keep riding until the end of the block, where he veered into an empty lot, Sheriff’s Det. Ted Van Deman said.

A past dispute over rental property prompted the shooting, Van Deman said.
Johnson had been competing against Okeechobee resident Byron Brinkley, 29, over a lease agreement to open up a bar at the corner of Front and Fifth streets, Van Deman said. In the end, Johnson outbid Brinkely.

When Jarvis Johnson’s cousin, Tarrance Pryor, 30, heard that he had been shot at, he went to confront one of Brinkley’s acquaintances, 29-year-old Keith “Ki-Ki” Johnson, Van Deman said. Keith Johnson ended up shooting Pryor with a pistol, Van Deman said.

Keith Johnson fled the scene but was arrested later that night during a traffic stop. Brinkley was also arrested that night on charges of helping Johnson flee.

Harris fled the scene and it took some days before investigators were able to pin him down as a suspect for Jarvis Johnson’s shooting.