LSCO connects student’s gun to fatal bullet in Summerlin Road wreck

FORT MYERS, Fla. – An 18-year-old man was arrested Thursday in connection to the death of Friedrich “Fritz” Timmerman who suffered a “fatal wound” before crashing into a concrete retainer wall off Summerlin Road March 15, Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott said.

Dalvon Deon Lawrence, a student at Cypress Lake High School, was removed from class and arrested, Scott said. He is facing manslaughter charges because evidence does not suggest that Lawrence targeted Timmerman, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s office.

“We don’t believe at this time and the evidence doesn’t lead us to believe that he was intentionally trying to kill Mr. Timmerman. But nonetheless, his reckless and egregious behavior that night … resulted in Mr. Timmerman’s demise,” Scott said.

Timmerman was struck in the head when his car was reported careening down Summerlin Road. It then slammed into the retainer wall at the edge of the Whiskey Creek community.

“That’s a very popular road in a very popular area … and it’s just so unfortunate and I can’t imagine what his family still goes through this day to know that Mr. Timmerman just happened to be the innocent victim that was just sitting there at that time and that projectile came through the window and hit him literally in the head,” Scott said.

His family was expecting his return for dinner the night of his death.

“Earlier on in the evening he had taken me home, dropped me off and said he had something to do then when he come back he would have dinner,” his mother, Marjorie Timmermann, said in March. “So we were waiting for him to come back and then we got the call from the emergency room saying he was in an accident and they wanted us to come down as soon as possible.”

The Timmermans now leave an empty chair for him at the dinner table.

Even in his grief, Timmerman’s father Werner Timmerman, was convinced in March that his son was targeted even as law enforcement sources said Timmerman was killed by a stray bullet.

That bullet would prove key to LSCO’s investigation.

After an autopsy was conducted, deputies were able to connect Lawrence’s gun to the bullet that was lodged in Timmerman’s skull, Scott said.

“A projectile was recovered from Timmerman’s skull. It was that initial piece of evidence that we were able to forward with,” Scott said, calling Lawrence’s arrest “major.”

“Folks, it could’ve been you or I in that car,” Scott said. “Mr. Timmerman was an innocent victim and we want to emphasize and underscore that — an innocent victim driving down the road.”

There is other evidence, besides a ballistic match, that make a strong case against Lawrence, Scott said, but he would not expound. LCSO received approval to proceed with the arrest from the state attorney’s office.

No further information was immediately available.