5 teens facing charges in February fatal shooting at home near PBIA, 3 of them for murder
WEST PALM BEACH — An investigation into the February shooting death of an 18-year-old man near West Palm Beach has resulted in the arrests of five teenagers, court records show.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies on Tuesday arrested 19-year-old Brandon Connors of West Palm Beach on a charge of first-degree murder with a firearm. It was the latest in a recent string of arrests linked to the Feb. 23 shooting on the 1500 block Suwanee Drive, in the Westgate neighborhood near Palm Beach International Airport.
Also taken into custody this month were Keith Pleasant and Jamarquis Williams, both 19, and two juveniles, ages 17 and 16.
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Like Connors, Williams and the 16-year-old each face a charge of first-degree murder with a firearm. Pleasant and the 17-year-old each face a charge of being an accessory after the fact.
The Palm Beach Post is not naming the juveniles because of their ages. Investigators took Williams, a Port St. Lucie resident, into custody May 23 after he and two other people were caught during a high-speed vehicle chase along Interstate 95 in Martin County.
Williams and Connors are being held without bail at the Palm Beach County Jail. Pleasant, who resides in Riviera Beach, is free on a $250,000 bond. The juveniles have been detained at the Juvenile Assessment Center. The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office will decide whether they will be charged as adults.
The arrest report did not indicate who fired the fatal shot. Defense attorney Brian Todd Pakett, who is representing Pleasant, said his client had no involvement in the homicide.
"My client maintains his innocence," Pakett told The Palm Beach Post on Wednesday. "We maintain that he had nothing to do with this homicide. He was not involved in any fashion."
The court-appointed public defenders to both Williams and Connors during their initial court appearances. As a policy, the Palm Beach County Public Defender's Office does not comment on open cases.
Authorities say the 18-year-old shooting victim died days after being shot in an apparent act of retaliation for a murder that occurred last year. Investigators did not disclose the man's name, citing a 2018 state constitutional amendment that allows crime victims or their families to withhold their names from police reports.
The sheriff's office reported that Williams, Pleasant, Connors and the two juveniles are close friends who were feuding with at least one person at the Suwanee Drive address following the killing of one of their friends.
One person told investigators they and others were standing near, or sitting in, a vehicle in a driveway talking when two vehicles slowly approached and shots were fired.
Investigators say surveillance-video recordings, cellphone records and GPS data recovered from a stolen rental vehicle linked the five people to the homicide.
On March 2, investigators tracked a stolen Cadillac SUV to a T-Mobile wireless store on Forest Hill Boulevard, according to PBSO records. There, they detained Williams, Pleasant and two others.
Pleasant told investigators he was with his girlfriend the entire night of Feb. 23 at an address in Riviera Beach. He said the trip to the wireless store on March 2 was the only time had been in the SUV.
Williams also denied involvement, telling investigators he also was with his girlfriend. However, investigators say that cellphone data showed that both men were untruthful in their statements regarding their whereabouts.
The teen's death is one of 35 confirmed homicides in Palm Beach County this year, according to a Palm Beach Post online database.
Authorities say Williams attempted to evade arrest last week as he and two other people fled in a vehicle north on I-95.
The three traveled into Martin County, reaching speeds up to 100 mph, before Martin County sheriff's deputies stopped them. When Williams and the other occupants refused to exit their vehicle, deputies released tear gas to force them out.
Deputies arrested Marquavious Davis of West Palm Beach, identified as the driver during the chase, for fleeing and eluding and driving with a revoked license. He was not listed as one of the men involved in the Westgate homicide.
The third occupant was not charged with a crime and was released.
jwhigham@pbpost.com
@JuliusWhigham
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 5 teens arrested in fatal shooting near West Palm; 3 face murder charge
