Bay County jury finds man guilty for 2021 double homicide home invasion in Panama City Beach

PANAMA CITY — A 20-year-old man was found guilty Thursday of a double homicide that happened in Panama City Beach in January 2021.

A Bay County jury found Ruez Hicks guilty for the killings of Robert Fowler and Robert Gilmore. Both were found dead from gunshot wounds at a residence on Delmar Drive in Panama City Beach in January 2021.

According to a news release from the office of State Attorney Larry Basford, a six-person jury took less than an hour to find Hicks guilty as charged of two counts of second-degree murder and one count each of armed robbery and armed burglary.

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At the end of the two-day trial, Basford asked jurors to "use your good old common sense that got you this far in life."

"We have been here this week because Robert Keith Gilmore and Robert Shawn Fowler are not. The reason they are not with us is because that man, the defendant, decided he would go into that house on Delmar Drive looking for something to take," Basford told jurors. "And when he was confronted by Mr. Gilmore and Mr. Fowler, he ended up taking something much more valuable … he ended up taking their very lives."

Evidence gathered by Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators, as well as forensics evidence from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, was presented at trial. That included DNA findings and testimony that the defendant’s gun fired the fatal shots, the news release states.

During trial, 10 witnesses in total were called on by the state, while the defense rested without calling any witnesses. Hicks, who is facing up to a life sentence on each of the murder charges, chose not to testify.

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BCSO investigators got a break in the case when it was discovered that someone had used a Cash App card belonging to one of the victims after his death.

After Hicks was identified as a suspect, statements made to investigators during a formal interview were also key to the case. Hicks admitted he went into the home armed with a pistol looking for something to steal, that the victims returned home unexpectedly and confronted him, and he shot and killed them both and ripped a wallet from one victim’s back pocket, the release said.

"We finally got to the truth, that he went into that home looking for anything of value, money, tools, in his own words: anything for some quick cash," Basford said of the statements the defendant gave the investigator. "Not only did the Bay County Sheriff’s Office do an excellent job investigating this case, they did an excellent job in solving it.

"This is not a complicated case, there is no reasonable doubt that the man responsible for (the murders) is before you," Basford said. "This is not something Larry Basford and Jacob Cook, the prosecutors, made up. The evidence in this case, the credible evidence, proves that the defendant is guilty of these four crimes."

According to the news release, Fowler owned the home on Delmar drive and Gilmore was working with him to restore it. Evidence presented at trial including witness testimony and the defendant’s statements. Hicks walked to the home Jan. 26, 2021, and saw that a light was on inside but no one was present. While Hicks gave varying accounts, ultimately he admitted that he went inside, his hand holding his .38-caliber revolver, to steal something he could sell to get some cash.

The news release added that Gilmore and Fowler returned to the home and found the defendant, who said they told him to drop what he was carrying, but that he refused and still had his hand on his gun. He admitted to shooting Gilmore while they were in the front porch area, but claimed he did not mean to kill him.

According to testimony from Medical Examiner Jay Radtke, the fatal shot pierced the arteries and veins at the top of Gilmore’s heart and that he likely died within seconds or minutes. A second bullet caused injuries along the front side of Gilmore’s face.

Evidence presented indicated that Fowler was farther back in the house across a room and a shot fired at him went through his heart. Radtke said his death would have occurred quickly.

Basford, addressing the jury and the defendant’s claim that he did not intend to kill anyone, noted Radtke’s testimony about a bullet hole found in the front porch floor that was near Gilmore’s head. Radtke agreed with Basford that the location of that hole was consistent with someone standing over Gilmore while he was already down and firing a bullet down at him, grazing his face. Both of the shots that hit Gilmore were fired from less than 3 feet away, Radtke said.

The victims were not discovered for about four hours and though they were identified quickly, there wasn’t a clear suspect through the first 48 hours, according to testimony.

Investigators examining Gilmore’s phone found an alert that Gilmore’s Cash App card had been declined twice at a nearby store the day after Gilmore was killed. Video from that store showed a suspect using the card. A still photo was taken from that video and distributed to deputies and one of them recognized the man as Hicks, who had been a witness in an unrelated disturbance. Hicks was picked up within two hours and arrested later that day, the release states.

Hicks is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8 by Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay.

Quantavious Burns, who hid the murder weapon at the defendant’s request after news reports surfaced about the killing, pleaded guilty earlier this week to accessory after the fact to second-degree murder. Burns was sentenced to three years’ probation, with the first 12 months of that being served in the Bay County Jail on Thursday, the release states.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Ruez Hicks, Panama City Beach, found guilty of double homicide