Boynton Beach man faces murder, attempted murder charges nearly month after double shooting
A 27-year-old man was arrested Monday on charges stemming from a shooting at a Boynton Beach home last month that killed a woman sleeping in a tent in the backyard and severely injured another man.
Kaeshwan Daughtry, of Boynton Beach, was among a small group of men hanging out in front of the home in the 100 block of Northwest 13th Avenue shortly before 2:30 a.m. July 19 while three adults and two children were inside, a probable cause affidavit said.
Jonteira Morton and Markendel Alexis were both shot multiple times, with Morton found lying in a tent in the backyard and Alexis found inside the home, the affidavit said.
Officer Holly Picciano, a Boynton Beach Police spokesperson, said at the time of the shooting that both victims were unhoused and were at the home with the property owner’s permission.
Morton and Alexis were taken to Delray Medical Center, where Morton died. Alexis was still in “very bad condition” late last month, according to the affidavit.
At the shooting scene, a police dog led detectives west to the intersection of Northwest Fourth Street and Northwest 12th Avenue as they searched for the shooter, the affidavit said. One witness at the home identified the shooter as Daughtry, who goes by “K.”
Officers found that Daughtry was a suspect in a car burglary where a gun was reported stolen two days before the shooting, the affidavit said.
As detectives searched, Daughtry was hiding out in an acquaintance’s apartment just near the intersection the dog tracked toward. The acquaintance later told police Daughtry, who he only knew as “K,” knocked on his backdoor about 3 a.m. and asked to come inside.
Inside the apartment, Daughtry told the witness that officers were looking for him, but he did not say why, the affidavit said. He looked out the apartment’s living room window at officers searching for him.
The witness offered Daughtry a T-shirt and said he needed to leave. Daughtry put a gun underneath the apartment’s staircase in the backyard when he left, the affidavit said. Video at the apartment verified the witness’s account.
Officers confirmed the gun Daughtry put under the stairs was the one reported stolen from the car burglary, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives experts confirmed that casings found at the shooting scene were from the weapon, the affidavit said. A part of the gun also had blood on it.
Morton’s brother contacted detectives five days later, providing more details about what led up to the shooting. He said he, Daughtry, Alexis and two other men were hanging out in the front of the home and thought it odd that Daughtry was there because he hadn’t been before, according to the affidavit. Alexis and Daughtry fought each other a week earlier.
He went to talk with his sister in the tent in the backyard before he left shortly before 2 a.m., the brother told detectives. While on the way to a nearby store, Morton’s brother heard gunshots, the affidavit said.
Morton’s brother told detectives that his sister argued with Daughtry two days earlier because she tried to dissuade him from stealing someone’s truck, according to the affidavit.
Boynton Beach Police announced Daughtry’s arrest Tuesday afternoon. In a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, the department said Alexis’ recent statement to detectives helped them confirm Daughtry’s identity and obtain an arrest warrant.
Daughtry faces one count of first-degree murder with a firearm, one count of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and one count of felon possession of a firearm, court records show. Police said he was booked into the Palm Beach County jail.
