One killed in Keys harbor shooting, another stabbed and wounded on isolated island
A Marathon man was jailed on a charge of murder Saturday night after police said he confessed to fatally shooting a man at Boot Key Harbor.
The dead man’s body was found in a dinghy at the mooring marina in the Middle Keys city, police said.
Christopher W. Davis, 59, who lives on a boat anchored there and is listed as a carpenter, was arrested on a charge of murder and booked into the Stock Island Detention Center.
Davis remained locked up Sunday without bond, according to jail records.
The victim, who also lived on a boat there, was not immediately identified because police want to tell his family first.
At about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Monroe County sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of shots fired at Boot Key Harbor.
They spotted a man — later identified as Davis — in a dinghy. They asked him at gunpoint if he had any weapons.
Davis stated he had thrown them in the water.
Deputies said they asked Davis if he was the shooter.
Davis admitted he was and that he had killed a man, according to sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.
Davis said he shot the man several times with a 12-gauge shotgun and then with a .22-caliber rifle as the victim approached his sailboat in a dinghy, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Davis stated he had been having ongoing issues with a group of other liveaboards, including the victim, recently,” Linhardt said. “Davis stated he feared the group was vandalizing his boat and he was fearful they were going to set it on fire.”
Davis said when he saw the man approaching his sailboat, he began shooting him.
It was the second serious violent act reported by police in the Keys over the weekend.
On Friday night off Key West, a man was stabbed, police said.
Man stabbed on island off Key West
A 51-year-old man was stabbed in the stomach Friday night on Wisteria Island, an undeveloped spot off Key West where homeless people often camp or live on boats anchored nearby.
The man was airlifted to a Miami hospital.
The Monroe Sheriff’s Office learned of the stabbing at about 11:30 p.m. No arrests had been made as of Sunday and police had not identified any suspects.
“What spurred the incident and who is responsible remains under investigation,” Linhardt said.
The U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission assisted in the response.
