‘Significant danger.’ Records show Manatee County triple murder suspect’s troubled past

Michael Moore Jr.
·5 min read

A man accused of murdering three Manatee County women before being killed in a shootout with Florida deputies had a history of domestic violence and mental health issues, according to court records.

Detectives with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office are still investigating why 28-year-old Javontee Brice allegedly shot and killed his mother, 48-year-old Titinysha Scott; his cousin, Sacouya Starquez Jonquila Brice; and his ex-girlfriend’s partner, Chanel Carter, 31, in three separate shootings on Monday.

But court records show Brice was previously arrested for domestic abuse and had a risk protection order filed against him that restricted his access to firearms. Law enforcement officials believe Brice shot himself with a gun in at least two different instances and Bradenton police described him as a “significant danger.”

Brice faced a domestic battery by strangulation charge in September after Bradenton police said he struck a woman in the face and placed her in a chokehold while she was in the passenger seat of his car. Court records show these charges were later dropped.

Brice also faced charges of battery and resisting an officer without violence in August 2022 after police said he got into a fight in the parking lot of Palmetto Trace Apartments and was not cooperative. Brice pleaded no contest to the charges and was placed on 12 months probation, according to court records.

Sheriff Rick Wells said during a Tuesday morning news conference that the sheriff’s office is aware of Brice’s court records and referenced the domestic strangulation charge that was dismissed. He added that there is still much more that the agency needs to learn about Brice’s mindset leading up to Monday’s shootings.

Homicide suspect had mental health issues, records say

“As far as his mental state of being, I’m not really sure what kind of issues he may have dealt with in the past, you know, we’ll still be investigating all of that,” Wells said.

Wells also said those same Palmetto Trace Apartments were Brice’s first stop on a “killing spree” throughout Palmetto and Bradenton Monday night.

Brice went to the apartments, where his sister and ex-girlfriend were, intending to kill his ex-girlfriend, but Wells said his sister was able to talk him out of it.

Three women are dead after deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office say 28-year-old Javontee Brice shot and killed them before deputies in North Florida shot him dead during a shootout. Deputies were dispatched to a shooting in the 900 block of 26th Street Court East in Palmetto where they say a 29-year-old woman had been shot while sitting inside a parked SUV Monday night.

According to Wells, Brice then went to a Motel 6 where he shot his mother three times, killing her, before later killing his cousin at a cookout in Palmetto and his ex-girlfriend’s new partner at a house in Bradenton.

Deputies with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in North Florida killed Brice in a shootout near the Georgia state line early Tuesday morning after Wells said Brice exited his vehicle and opened fire on them.

A ‘significant danger,’ Bradenton police said

But court records show the Bradenton Police Department previously flagged Brice as posing “a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself or others by having a firearm or any ammunition in his custody or control.”

The agency filed a risk protection order against Brice in August 2021 after investigators said he shot himself, but records show the order expired in 2023.

The order came after officers said Brice posted a “cryptic message” on Facebook that said “I love my babies” and that a lot of people “don’t know what I’ve been through.” The post also asked his family to look after his kids and raise them, while saying “it was a fun run” and sharing the password to his phone.

Three women are dead after deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office say 28-year-old Javontee Brice shot and killed them before deputies in North Florida shot him dead during a shootout. Deputies say Brice shot and killed his mother at Motel 6 near Interstate 75 Monday night.
Three women are dead after deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office say 28-year-old Javontee Brice shot and killed them before deputies in North Florida shot him dead during a shootout. Deputies say Brice shot and killed his mother at Motel 6 near Interstate 75 Monday night.

Brice also made a string of similarly bizarre social media posts Monday as he appeared to post updates as he murdered his loved ones, according to the sheriff’s office. By Tuesday morning, those posts had racked up thousands of likes, comments and shares.

About 10 minutes after he made those Facebook posts in 2021, police said they found Brice with a gunshot wound to the left side of his abdomen that they believed was self-inflicted. Officers say Brice had to be restrained and taken to HCA Florida Blake Hospital for treatment.

Triple homicide shooter made gun threats, records say

When questioned by police, officers say Brice told them he had gone to his mother’s residence in Bradenton Village, but “his mother did not answer the door or let him in when he knocked.”

Brice said he then returned to his vehicle and retrieved his revolver, a Rossi .38 Special, “because he has younger siblings,” but detectives said it was 3 a.m. at the time.

Sheriff Wells said at a press conference that the gun used in Monday’s killings was a .38 revolver.

Brice told police that while getting in the car and trying to put the gun away, he “shot himself accidentally,” according to court documents, but investigators say the injury location “indicated that the firearm would have had to be held straight and not fired accidentally.”

Brice’s sister told police she also learned that Brice sent text messages to his kids’ mothers asking them to take care of his children if something happened to him that night. Brice told his sister that “he knew he was going to get shot that night” but “would not elaborate how,” according to court records.

Detectives said she told them Brice “just wants to be with his granddad and best friend,” who both previously died.

Javontee Brice, the man accused of murdering three Manatee County women before being killed in a shootout with Florida deputies, had a history of domestic violence and mental health issues, according to court records. Deputies say Brice shot and killed his mother at Motel 6 near Interstate 75 Monday night.
Javontee Brice, the man accused of murdering three Manatee County women before being killed in a shootout with Florida deputies, had a history of domestic violence and mental health issues, according to court records. Deputies say Brice shot and killed his mother at Motel 6 near Interstate 75 Monday night.

Detectives said they learned from Brice’s sister that he had been at a party the night of the incident where he had been drinking and that he often “gets emotional while he is under the influence of alcohol.”

Following his treatment at the hospital, Brice was placed under a Baker Act and taken to Suncoast Behavioral Center. A judge later approved a risk protection order barring his access to firearms. That order expired in August, according to court records.

Brice’s sister told detectives a similar incident happened years ago in Georgia. In 2018, Brice shot himself but claimed someone else did it, according to court records.

Sheriff Wells said Brice was on his way to Georgia Tuesday morning intending to kill a fourth person, possibly an ex-girlfriend. Instead, Wells said Brice encountered deputies with Hamilton County near the state line who fatally shot him after he opened fire.

An investigation into the triple homicide case is ongoing.