2nd teen arrested in connection with homicide at Fort Myers apartment complex

Reporter: Andryanna Sheppard Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published: Updated:
Terrell Jabarrie Middleton (Credit: LCSO booking photo)

A second teenager has been arrested in connection with a shooting death last month at a Fort Myers apartment complex.

Terrell Jabarrie Middleton faces charges of homicide and robbery with a firearm. The 16-year-old joins 17-year-old Ar’Trayvis Ravon Stanberry as a suspect in the Nov. 22 shooting death of a man at The Retreat at Vista Lake complex on Winkler Avenue.

Terry Shuck lives at the complex and say, unfortunately for Middleton, his life is probably over now. “It’s just a sad commentary. That kid’s life, is done,” she said.

Fort Myers police responded to the complex after a car drove into the clubhouse. The driver was found to have suffered a gunshot wound prior to crashing his car and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Neighbors say that the blue tarp they pass by covering the hole where the car went into the building is a daily reminder of the life lost.

Shuck says she was checking her mail at The Retreat just a few weeks ago. Just after, she noticed a large police presence, lights and yellow caution tape near the mailbox where she’d previously been.

“We were out on her lanai and then I saw all of the sirens and heard all of the sirens. Saw the lights and everything,” said Shuck.

Caitlin Creedon had only been living there for a few months when she pulled up and saw the scene.

“We tried to come in through the first entrance but it was blocked off and we were like what’s going on. And there were so many cop cars. It was crazy. We have never seen something like that here before,” said Creedon.

The next day, they all noticed th gaping hole in the clubhouse wall. People were doing their best to repair it.

Stanberry was arrested a day later and faces one count each of homicide and robbery by sudden snatching with a firearm or weapon. He is being held in the Lee County Jail on $750,000 bail.

According to the initial FMPD report, Stanberry met with a man at the apartment complex just before 8 p.m. Nov. 22. Police say he shot at the victim and did not miss. Officers arrived at the scene and found a black Kia that had crashed into the front office building at the complex. The driver of the car was found dead behind the wheel, with the car still running.

Someone told police Stanberry disposed of a firearm inside a dumpster, and police confirmed it was found in a trash compactor; however, the location of the compactor is redacted in the report.

WINK News is still unsure of how police identified Middleton as a suspect.

Terry Shuck does know one thing, that’s the last time she’ll be checking her mail at night. “Not safe. Not safe,” she said. “I try not to walk at night. Because, yeah, I’m scared.”

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